Let Her Come In
As the Editor
Views the News...
Having come very close to the $6,000,000
mark, there is no reason for doubting that
the complete 1948 quota can be attained.
Already, this community has secured near-
ly $2,000,000 more Than was contributed in
1947. The emergence of the State of Israel,
the imperative need of solving the problem
of displaced persons immediately, the oppor-
tunities that are offered for a limited number
of Jews to come to this country and the many
important local responsibilities have merged
to create a great appeal. Having responded
in a manner that breaks all previous records,
our people surely will not fail to answer the
call for completion of the great job under-
taken in this year of destiny.
Jewish DPs. Betrayed
The perverted displaced persons bill adopt-
ed by the Conaress of the United States be-
trays the Jewish survivors from Nazism.
All hope that the conferees would alter the
discriminating Senate measure in favor of the
House Fellows Bill faded when the die-hards
voted in conference to support all the un-
favorable elements in the Revercomb Bill.
Thus, the provision that only those who
were in DP camps in Germany, Austria and
Italy prior to Dec. 22, 1945, should be ad-
mitted to the U. S., virtually bars all. Jewish
survivors from Hitlerism and discriminates
against Catholics.
Senator McGrath's charge that the dis-
crimination was deliberate is an indictment
of those who forced the bill through Congress.
Senators Homer Ferguson of Michigan and
Harley M. Kilgore of West Virginia, and Con-
gressmen Emanuel Celler of New York and
Caleb Boggs of Delaware refused to sign the
conference report, thereby adding their pro-
tests against a shocking demonstration of
antagonism to the handful of people - who re-
mained to tell the tale of Nazi brutality and
who prefer the U. S. to Israel as a place of
refuge from the newly-gathering dangers of
. anti-Semitism in Europe, out of a desire to
join their relatives in this country.
In reality "Volksdeutsche" — kinsmen of
Nazism—are given preference over Jews and
other survivors from Nazism. The persecutor
will find haven in the U. S. while the perse-
di cuted JeW has been rejected!
_In truth, insofar as the survivors from
Nazism are concerned the present Congress
was a very bad Congress.
THE JEWISH NEWS
Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Palcor
Agency, 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-
lice, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3. 1879.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
VOL. XIII—No. 15
Page 4 JUNE 25, 1948
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the nineteenth day of Sivan,
5708, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion—Num. 8:1-12:16.
Prophetical portion—Zech. 2:14-4:7.
Benjamin
MR. BENJAMIN'S SWORD. By Robert D. Abrahams.
Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America
Allied Jewish Campaign leaders are hope-
ful that by Monday, June 28, the entire $6,-
200,000 will be attained so that Detroit should
be counted among the. communities which
have fulfilled their obligations to Israel. DP
needs, national and local causes.
Those who have not given enough, the
thousands who have not yet contributed,
should call the Allied Jewish Campaign
office, 250 W. Lafayette, WOodward 5-
3939, to increase their gifts or to an-
nounce contributions that have not yet
been reported. This will be their best
and only way of aiding the Haganah, of
supporting Israel, of assisting the DPs,
of assuring the continuation of the edu-
cational, recreational and social service
efforts in our own community.
P.
Adventure and intrigue
Of Jewish Confederacy
The Goal Is Attainable
During the few days that remain until the
final campaign meeting, our people have a
great opportunity to secure the difference
between the sum already secured and the
$6,200,000. It should be our way of saluting
Israel, of cheering the DPs, of giving encour-
encour-
agement
agement to all who depend upon us for their
sustenance and for the continued success of
their efforts in an historic hour.
Story of Judah
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y*.ct"....
A 4IENCY
Israel Will Reject Munich Tactics
Truce negotiations are marred by humiliating circum-
stances which are causing bitterness and considerable dis-
appointment in Jewish ranks. The checkina of our convoys
on "Israel's Burma Road" to Jerusalem, refusal
to admit es-
b
sential commercial and agricultural machinery to the Jewish
State, the attempt to stop Jewish immigration by setting up
checking systems throughout the world—these are among
the elements in the negotiations which are causing disil-
lusionment with some of the acts of Count Folke Bernadotte's
mediators.
Naturally, Count Bernadotte will receive the benefit. of
all doubts. Israel has yielded on all demands made by the med-
iators in the truce and even the extremist groups are cooperat-
ing in concerted efforts to make the truce work and to help
bring peace to the Holy Land.
When, however, it becomes apparent that Great Britain is
diverting oil shipments from Israel to the Arab League,
when it is revealed that a worldwide control network is pro-
posed to check Jewish immigration, then there is justifica-
tion for the suspicion that British tactics again are at work
to destroy the State of Israel and to undermine the existence
of the People Israel in its reborn state.
While the situation on the political front once more
is grave, with new dangers looming on the horizon, and
while there is justification for a feeling of alarm, Jews
everywhere should be admonished to hold fast to their
faith that Israel, once re-established, cannot be destroyed;
that the brave defenders not only of Jewish lives and
properties but also of the honor of our people will not
tolerate the repetition of Munich tactics in Israel.
It is quite clear that the fomenters of trouble are the
same sources which had tried to prevent the United Nations
partition decision on Nov. 29, 1947, which sought to destroy
the Jewish defenders of Israel in their tracks prior to May
14, 1948, and which now are aiming to strike a death-blow at
the People Israel. British perfidy again is at work. Britain's
generals are the instigators of trouble. Their allies are a hand-
ful of anti-Zionist State Department officials in this country.
President Truman could stop the latter with a single warn-
ing. Public opinion can, as we believe it will, put an end to
Bevinesque tricks which emanate from an anti-Jewish mania.
But the desired results will be attained only if we are on
guard against the destructive forces in the world and if we
continue to provide the means with' which to defend and
to build Israel.
A shocking indictment of Great Britain comes from
Rome. Joseph G. Harrison, in a cable to the Christian
Science Monitor from Italy, reveals that there is an in-
clination in Italian government circles to blame the
British for the Arab anti-Jewish riots in Tripoli. He quotes
a headline in the Socialist newspaper Avanti as stating:
"The English Stand by as 'Spectators" and refers to a
charge that "Britain's attitude in Palestine probably has
encouraged local Arabs to feel that Tripoli's small Jew-
_ ish population was fair game." The death of 13 Jews
and five Arabs in. Libya could have been prevented, it
is pointed out by Italians whoa state that "Libya now is
filled with British troops who have been evacuated from
Palestine and that forthright action by British author-
ities at the first hint of trouble in the Old City could
have prevented its spreading."
It is no wonder, therefore, that after the murder of 150
Jews in the Libyan riots of 1945 that the Jews of Italy should
have asked for transfer of Libya from British to Italian rule.
Britain's vengeful acts against Israel have not been lim-
ited to Palestine. They have spread elsewhere. They are
guilty of having encouraged anti-Semitism in England. They
have prejudiced spokesmen for several governments in the
UN. These are schemes which have failed in the past. They
are doomed to failure in the future. It is only a matter of
time. If Mr. Truman and Count Bernadotte are fair and firm,
peace will come sooner. If they procrastinate and do not en-
force justice as firmly as they speak in the name of "peace,"
it will be necessary for Israel to win her own battles. For, win
we must.
This is a fascinating adventure story- that reads
quickly and easily. It is told in the first person
by a fictonal character, Billy Hart, a boy of 15,
who accompanies Judah P. Benjamin during the
four months after the
fall of Richmond in
1865. Those months are
full of danger and in-
trigue, with the whole
Yankee army and navy
on the lookout for Ben-
jamin, the Secretary of
State of the Confeder-
acy, worth $40,000 to his
captors.
Now and then through-
out the story there is a
reference to Jews and
Judaism in questions
which Billy asks, and in
answers and remarks by
Mr. Benjamin's or his
friends. This Jewish as-
pect of the book is skill-
f introduced and Robert D. Abrahams
handled in a natural, simple way, never over-
emphasized or labored, although the fact that
Judah Benjamin was a Jew is held constantly be-
fore the reader. Billy -comes to the house of a
Jewish friend of Mr. Benjamin and is told at the
door by the Negro slave that "Dis is de last day
of de Passover, and we is - puttin' de special plates
away." Another time, "Mr. Weil touched his
fingers to a little amulet on his doorpost . .".
The relationship betwen the Gentile Billy and
the Jew whom he admires and loves is an im-
portant contribution to the literature of both the
Jewish and the general fields for adolescents and
young adults. Although he is a Jew Mr. Benjamin
has prestige through his position in the Confed-
erate government; he is liked and respected by
most of the people he meets on his journey
through the 'South; he is loved by Billy; he . is
honored by the English bar.
The last adventure that Billy and Mr. Benjamin
have also teaches brotherhood. Mr. Benjamin and
Billy take passage on a sponge-sloop which has a
"colored owner and crew, competent and trust-
worthy." Nevertheless, because the boat is over-
loaded, she bursts her seams and sinks, and the
two white men and the three colored men find
themselves in a small, leaky skiff, adrift on the
open sea, with only one oar among them. Mr.
Benjamin, as usual, rises to the occasion and takes
charge, but the three Negroes are equally brave
and calm as they share the work of rowing.
Mr. Benjamin carries little baggage on his
wanderings, because, as he says, "We Jews haVe
learned through the centuries to travel light and
carry our archives in our heads." But he does
keep with him always the sword presented to
him by Jefferson Davis. Despite the danger of
being identified because of the inscription on it,
Mr: Benjamin- gives no thought to discarding his
"sword , of honor." He keeps it with him faith-
fully, in a manner symbolic of his loyalty to
Jefferson Davis and the Confederate cause.
Mr. Benjamin makes his "getaway," and event-
ually attains high distinction at the English bar.
Billy Hart also makes good in the United States.
These :later events are not essential parts of the
novel, which is concerned only with the efforts to
escape. But the story is told with such skill 'and
dramatic power as to hold the reader spellbound
throughout.
The author, consular representative in Philadel-
phia of the Dominican Republic, is also well known
as a poet and mystery-story writer.
"Mr. Benjamin's Sword" is available on the
membership plan of The Jewish Publication So-
ciety and counts as a half-book on the member-
ship quota.
BOOK
OF BOOKS
A Bible Quiz With Answers
By Dr. Solomon Goldman
you know about the
Bible, its history, its people,
and its influence on the world?
Test your knowledge in this
quiz by Rabbi Solomon Gold-
man, author of the new thir-
teen volume commentary, "The
Book of Books." The answers,
from Dr. Goldman's monumen:-
tol project in Biblical scholar-
ship, are printed with special
permission of the publishers,
Harper & Brothers.
What do
(The third of a series)
Why has the Bible remained the world's "best
seller"?
The Bible has remained the world's "best
seller" because it did not capitulate to hopeless-
ness, but set forth its faith in a favorable denoue-
ment of the human drama. The Bible could not be
pervasively pessimistic and retain its hold on
mankind. Indeed, its greatest strength has per-
haps lain in the fact that, fastening boldly on the
reality of things, it wrestled with it and would
not let go of it until it had brought it under
control.
What does the Bible say of man?
It says that man, in so far as his conduct was
concerned, is a free agent, capable of resisting evil
and choosing good; that despite his imperfections
and instability of the imagination of his heart, he
could, if he tried hard enough, reach out beyond
himself, erec,j himself, as it were, above himself.
The Bible also proclaims that all human beings, of
all races and peoples, since they are of common
origin and a common destiny, and were implicated
in one another's pains_ and pleasures, failures and
successes, were related to one another. Conse-
quently, they were all equal, the common man
being no less the object of God's love than was
the great, and his life no less sacred nor his well
being less important.