As the Editor
Views the News • • .
The Story of a Great Lady
Let the Bird Fly!
Cecil Roth Tells Thrilling
Tale of Dona Gracia Nasi
Artzenu s Stamp
Eretz Israel—the Land of Israel—the re-
born Hebrew state—is affectionately known
as "Artzenu",---our land. "Artzemi" already
has its Hebrew postage and revenue stamps.
It will have its own currency and -coins--=
in Hebrew. No longer, ash during the 30-year
British regime, will there be Arabic and
English on public documents.
The stamp is one of the symbols of Jewish
Statehood. There will soon be . Consulates
and • Embassies, exchanges of university stu-
dents, the cementing of international friend-
ships which should lead to the abandonment
of • the percentage norms (numerus clausus)
and bigotries. Out ,of Zion, indeed, shall go
forth the Law.
- Let us pray that the era of militarism will
end speedily and that the days of peace and
good will will thenceforth be unending.
Speaking of stamps, we would like to
take up the appeal of the Rev. William C.
Kernan, director of the Institute for Amer-
ican Democracy, that the U. S. "Four Chap-
lains" three-cent stamp should be utilized by
all faiths for widest possible - distribution.
The engraving on this Stamp shows the sink-
ing of the S. S. Dorchester and the calm
faces of the Catholic, Jewish and Protdstant 111•••• ■ • vastowwwt
14e4Ifidokm.st.„
chaplains who died hand in hand when the
stricken boat went down during the war.
Only a limited number of these stamps
were issued by the U.S. Postoffice on May
28„ and more will be printed if there is a de-
Fine men, Bevin and Cadogan and. Glubb Pasha—and
mand for them. That demand should be cre-
ated by organizations and individuals of all John Fletcher-Cooke! Future .generations in England will
faiths. This wi11 serve as an endorsement of point to them as spokesmen who had destroyed the good name
the sentiment expresged by the Rev. Kernan: of England.
Fletcher-Cooke had the audacity to say, at a meeting of
\ "We honor the Four Chaplains best when
\ we live as they did. We honor them best when
the UN Security Council, that the Arab League "could not
we defend every American's right to work,
possibly accept" the cease-fire order—a request to which Is-
• to worship, to get a good education and to live
rael readily acceded="until they score a major military stic-
' in a decent house—without regard to race
creed, class or name. .
cess:"
"We honor them when we SPEAK UP for
This gentleman must have meant that the present British
our fellow Americans who are deframed or
government it unwilling to accept a truce until it scores a
discriminated against because of their race
military success in Jerusalem under the guidance. .of John
or religion . . when we refuse to spread cum-
' Wing or evil rumors against any man be-
Bagot Glubb Pasha, its designated leader of the Arab Legion.
cause his country or origin or religion is dif-
Our people in Israel have suffered a defeat in Jerusalem.
ferent from ours.
"We honor men—the priest, the rabbi, the
But the British should know that they can not dislodge the
' ministers—by remembering that they died,
Jews from their rightful State of Israel, and if the British can
as we must live, for Americans of every faith,
i every race.
not win, the Arabs certainly will not.
"That's being AMERICAN."
The British traditionally are lovers of the Bible. There-
We are wholeheartedly in accord with
these views, and we believe that all our fore they should know the old warning—"mene, merle, tekel
readers, that all loyal Americans, endorse upharsin" thou hast been weighed in the balance and found
them. To give such endorsements substance, wanting.
The Bevin clique should know the lessons of Haman and
we join in urging wide distribution of the
Hitler. Neither individuals nor peoples can survive on anti-
Four Chaplains Stamps.
Semitic platforms. Therefore Bevin and his cohorts should
know enough to beware against the verdict of history in their
battle against Israel.
THE 'HOUSE OF NASI: DONA GRACIA. By
Cecil Rot
h. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication
Society of-.America.
• There is an interesting difference between -bio-
graphies • that have been written of Jews who
lived till about a century ago and of those who
lived during the 19th and 20th centuries . The
subjects of the former class have been rabbis,
scholars, philosophers; the subjects in the second
class have generally. been .Jewish men-of-:affairs,
philanthropists; scientists and artists. For the first
time in the English language we now have a bio-
graphy of- a lay person who lived hi the 16th
century. Moreover, it is the biography of a. Wo-;
man, a fact which makes the : publication of this
volume a still more unusual event in Jewish liter-
ature.
Gracia Nasi, who married into the famous
banking family of Mendez, proved to be an '
extraordinary person. After the deaths. of her
husband and her brother-in-law, she took charge" .
of the vast commercial interests of • the family.
Later in her life, with Constantinople as the center
of her activities, she was the fdremost patroness of •
Jewish learning, of Hebrew ritinang "(then still
a comparatively new art), and of Jewish religious
activity.
, adds romance and poignancy to this
unusual career is the fact that Dona Gracia,
born a • Marrano, that is, secretly a Jewess
though outwardly a Christian, yearned for a
return to the open observance of the faith of
her ancestors. .How she planned and schemed
•and sacrificed to escape from the baleful cluthes
. of the Inquisition is one of the most remarkable
stories in Jewish history. Having realized her
of returning openly to Judaism, she or-
ganized and financed an "underground railroad"
to hell) other Marranos similarly to attain reli-
gious freedom.
This book thus offers, not only the biography
of. an unusual person, but .also an exalting chapter
in the history of the JeWs. Dr. Cecil Roth, the
well-known historian, did a great deal of research
in the preparation of this volume and presents
many hitherto unknown facts. Essentially, how-
ever, this is a hUrnan story, with plots and in-
trigues and almost hairbreadth escapes. Prominent
in the book is also Don Joseph Nasi, a n'e'phew of
Dona Gracia, subsequently to become -Duke of
Naxos and to make one of the earliest efforts to
resettle the. Jews in Palestine. To him Dr. Roth
has devoted a separate volume, which the Jewish
Publication Society will issue in the near future.
Incidentally, the biography of Dona Gracia
is dedicated to the memory of the late Henrietta
Szold. Across the centuries these two great wo-
men are thus joined together—as is only proper,
for both deserved well of their people.
- "The House of, Nasi: Dona Gracia," beautifully
printed and bound, with a three-color jacket, con-
tains 221 pages, plus 15 full-page illustrations, and
end-paper maps. It may be secured as one of the
membership books of the JeWish Publication So-
ciety of America.
.
ft
P40•11
Bevin Forgets (Haman and Hitler
.
—
IrrIesponsible Action
During the pre-war years when there was
an upsurge of anti-Semitism, irresponsible.
newspapers flagrantly abused • established
journalistic principles and accepted commun-.
ity . policies by sending solicitors to cities
throughout the land on a circulation cam-
paign in an area already covered by a Jewish
newspaper. The claims of the solicitors were
that by contributing sums in amounts rang-
ing from $5 to $50 their newspapers would
circularize non-Jews and thus would be fight-
ing anti-Semitism.
The ineffectiveness of such a procedure is
self-evident; yet many of our people have
succumbed to the allurements of sales talks.
If these newspapers really are doing the job
they claim, why should Welfare Funds con-
tine to finance the work of Community Coun-
cils, Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Con-
gress and Jewish Committee?
Some of these newspapers have resumed
their old tactics and Detroiters who have be-
come their victims in the past few weeks
have reason to blush for their gullibility.
Perhaps our Community Councils are more
to blame, if they cannot find a way of ending
scandalous and flagrant abuses of decency
by miSrepresentatiVe solicitors.
i
THE JEWISH NEWS
' Member Jewish Telegraphic. Agency, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Palcor
Agency, King Features, Cenpal Press Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publish-
ling 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-
fice, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3. 1879.
Board of Directors: Maurice Aronsson, Fred M.
Butzel (deceased), Judge Theodore Levin, Maurice
B. Schwartz, Philip Slomovitz, Isidore Sobeloff,
Abraham- Srere, Henry Wineman.
An. Equal Chance for the Needy
.
The Allied Jewish Campaign is $800,000 short of the 1948
goal of $6,200,000, after three months of active campaigning.
The stirring historic events Of the past weeks should have
inspired unprecedented giving. Many of our people, it is
true, have set new standards with their contributions. But
there still remain many hundreds who are niggardly, who
do not recognize their responsibility to the entire People
Israel, who either have not contributed or have not increased
their last year's gifts, or are . entirely indifferent to their
duties as Jews, as Americans, as human beings.
American Jews have been blessed in many ways. We
are economically better fixed than any other Jewish com- Fcicts YQU Should Know •
munity in the world. We are removed from the pestilence
of European bigotries. We have been away from the scenes of -
wars, and have in the main been spared the tragedies of
war's destructions even though we lost tens of thousands
of young men and women who gave their lives in the battle
• • •
for democracy. Therefore we should" be more willing' to give
What is the "Pirke Avoth?"
of our earthly possessions than any other group anywhere.
"Pirke AvOth" is the name of one of the trae-
There is an interesting story which is applicable to our
tates of the Talmud. It is commonly known by its.
present position as ' the - most fortunate Jewry in the World.: English
title, "Ethics of the Fathers." In this sense
nswers to Readers'
Questions
A rich man once came to the maggid of Koznitz.
"What are you in the habit of eating?" the maggid asked.
"I am modest in my demands," the rich man replied. "Bread .
and salt,' and , a drink of water are all I need." -
"What are you thinking of!" the rabbi reproved him. "You
must eat roast meat and drink mead, like all rich people." And
he did not let the man go until he had promised to do as he had
said. Later the hassidim asked him the reason for this odd
request. . -
"Not until , he eats meat," said the maggid, ""will he realize
that the poor man needs bread. As long as he himself eats bread, _
be will think the poor man can live on stones."
' -American Jewry is in the position Of the man who lives
well, eats well, enjoys recreational opportunities. Therefore
we should not begrudge our less fortunate people a chance
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor
to be able to defend their lives, to settle in a state they now
can call their own, to liquidate the Galut and to rebuild Eretz
Page 4 JUNE 4, 1948
VOL. X111E—No. 12
Israel.
Sabbath Scriptural Selettions
It is not too late to make good on our great responsibility
, This Sabbath, tht twenty-seventh day of. Iyar,
provide an
5708, the following Scriptural selections will be in this Year of Destiny. We still haye time to
equal chance for survival to the Jews of Israel and our kins-
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion—Lev. 26:3-27:34.
men in DP camps. How about speedy action, you men and
Prophetical portion--Jer. 16:19-17:14.
women who have thus far failed to •do your duty to the Allied
On Rosh Hodesh Sivan, on •Tuesday, Num.
Jewish Campaign?
will be read during morning services.
•
:•••• or:. 0.0 id* gar 414sArk,
• vitt
March On!
Dedicated to the Spirit of Haganah
By ZELDA M. LANDSMAN
•
In endless silent ranks, they rise again—
Grim generations of our martyred men.
An army moving forward, heeding naught;
Its rigid lines of fleshless Beings wraught.
No smart formation, and no colorful array!
No military prowess and no skilled display
Distinguishes this melancholy horde.
They bear no arms; no brightly burnished sword
Is proudly girded to their side.
As they move on with steady stride.
Oh persecuted heroes of the past!
Your resolute battallions march at last
Beside the brave brigades of living men!
For proud Judea's Army fights again!
What foe, however powerful, can stop your meas-
ured tread?
What mechanized machine can blast the columns
of the dead?
Too long your stifled Spirit sought release—
Now only Victory can give you peace!
March on! No worldly lust, no mighty nation's
greed
can break your line until Judea's bonds are freed!
the term designates the fact that the tractate con-
tains the principal selections of Talmudic Ethics.
Perhaps no tractate in its entirety has received as
Much comment and popularity as this.
* * *
Why is the term "Yerach" sometimes used to
denote a month?
Why is it that in the marriage certificate we
use the. term "Chodesh" to name the month and
in the divorce paper we use the term "Yerach"
for the same purpose?
The term "Yerach" in Hebrew means "moon."
It comes from a verb which means to "be pale."
The moon is, therefore, called "Yerach" because
of its paleness. •
The term "Chodesh" which means "new" and
stems from a verb meaning to "glitter" or "shine"
is certainly appropriate for a marriage certificate,
as against the term ‘,'Yerach" which means simply
a "moon" and stems from the verb meaning "to
pale," which is more appropriate for divorces. At
least two other reasons are found in Rabbinic-,
literature. One of these has to do with the proxi- •
mate association of the term "Yerach" in the Bible :•
with the term "Geresh" in the Book of Deutero-
nomy, the latter term meaning to "drive forth"
and, as it is used in divorces, "to divorce." .
•
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