What Will He Bring for Israel?
As the Editor.
Views the News •
Humor Wears the Crown
Wouk, Perelman, Feder
Peace Is Near
View Life in Light Vein
Important news is filtering in from Israel.
Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion gave
hope to Jews everywhere with his statement,
during an inspection of the young Israeli
Navy, based at Haifa, that peace is approach-
ing. Mr. Ben-Gurion would not have uttered
such heartening words if he had not been
encouraged by the direct peace negotiations
in progress between Jewish and Arab lead-
ers behind the scenes.
At th same time, the declaration made
by Jerusalem's military governor, Dr. Bernard
Joseph, that his administration soon will be
ended to make room for the establishment of
the Holy City as the capital of Israel, and the
assertion by David Remez, Israeli Communi-
cations Minister, that the Supreme Court of
Israel will be seated permanently in Israel,
add encouragement to Jewish hopes that the
war is coming to an end, that there will be
peace between Jews and Arabs and that a
strong economic, political and social bond of
friendship will begin for the two kindred peo-
ple in the Near East.
*
Wit and humor received their sincerest spurt
in the literary world from two Simon and Schust-
er publications which undoubtedly will be rated
among the best of the 1948 creations. They are so
good that they even may gain rank anskong the
best in the history of humor-literature, and two
other leaps into the top-seller class are acquired
by the Simon-Schuster publishing house which
seems to know better than any one else how to ac-
quire record-breaking circulation for its creations,
S. J. Perelman is so well known for his humor
and his collaborator (Hirschfeld) is so popular as
the New York Times caricaturist, that few were
surprised at the genius of their "Westward Fla!"
On the other hand, Herman Wouk is a gen-
uine find. His hero, Herbie Bookbinder, emerges
as so charmingly delineated a character in "The
City Boy" that Wouk, if he keeps up his excellent
initial efforts at humor may well rise to Mark
Twainian fame.
*
Israel's UN Representative Aubrey S.
Eban added his faith to these hopes with
his endorsement, in an article in the current
issue of Commentary Magazine, of a plan for
a Near Eastern League of Arabs and Jews.
All the plans that emanate from Israel
point to a bright future for Jews and Arabs,
provided that the aggressors and invaders
are barred from control and power.
The warning that was given to the ex-
Mufti by Transjordania to refrain from send-
ing irregular troops to fight Israel is an added
word of comfort in a situation which was very
threatening for a number of weeks.
There are very cheering elements in the
report cabled from Jerusalem by Dr. Ruth
Gruber to the New York Herald Tribune.
Dr. Gruber states that "Jerusalem has return-
ed to life. People are on the streets again.
Cafes are open and filling up. Movie houses
are playing American films to capacity aud-
iences. Streets are brightly lit again. The new
look in women's clothes is commonplace on
Ben Yehuda Street, along with army uni-
forms . . . The police band became the hero
of the week. It appeared every day and play-
ed tirelessly in all quarters of the town .. .
Thousands of people were on the streets Sun-
day when trucks filled with children drove
through the town with a police band in front
and a fire engine behind. The children shout-
ed, sang the Negev and Palmach songs as
they wound their way through the main
downtown streets."
There is a return to normalcy and life
goes on in a spirit of security, resulting from
the courage of a rejuvenated people.
*
IT'S A LIVING: A Personalized Collection of Jewish
Humor. By Mark Feder. Foreword by Harry Hersh-
field. Bloch Publishing Co., New York.
WESTWARD HA! Around the World in 80 Cliches. By
S. J. Perelman. Drawings by Hirschfeld.. Simon and
Schuster, New York.
THE CITY BOY. By Herman Wouk. Simon and Schuster,
New York.
*
*
While these things are transpiring, the
State of Israel is not forgetting Jewry's
friends. Last week, a street was named in
Tel Aviv in honor of the late Mayor of New
York, Fiorello LaGuardia. Others who have
helped in the restoration of the Jewish State
are being given high honors, and Israel will
not forget them.
There is progress in the economic sphere.
According to Dr. Gruber, "Jerusalem bakers
were given white flour, sugar and other es-
sentials for making tasty pastries for cafes.
Cafe owners said this was the first time in
years that that had been done .. . A large
truckload of Haifa-made plate glass arrived
to replace some of the city's shattered win-
dows. Two of Jerusalem's 50 large garages
began working again . . . On Sept. 1 Socony
Vacuum and Shell oil companies began sell-
ing oil and gasoline."
These are evidences of peace. A new day
is dawning for Israel and the Near East. It
can be made a new day for mankind—pro-
vided the reactionary forces stop encourag-
ing Israel's enemies and begin sincerely to co-
operate with the Jewish State in its efforts to
effect peace agreements with the Arabs.
THE JEWISH NEWS
Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Independent Jewisi'
'Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Pal CO7
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. S4.
Entered as second-class matter Aug 6. 1942, at Post Of-
fice, Detroit, Mich.. under Act of March 3 1879.
"The City Boy" is a combination of com-
edy and adventure, satire on education and
the pathos of family life. The novel tells of
the adventures of Herbie and his cousin Cliff,
the villainy of Lennie Krieger, the penny-
pinching of a camp owner, the business acu-
men of Herbie's father.
It all begins with 11-year-old Herbie's disap-
pointment when he learns that the teacher with
whom he fell in love had married. But that same
morning he -falls into the net of - 10-year-old red-
For more than 20 years, attempts have been made to unify headed Lucille Glass, daughter of his father's
fund-raising activities and to eliminate duplication of effort lawyer, and then the fun begins.
Because Lucille was to go to Camp Manitou,
and overlapping of solicitations. Formation of the Allied Jew-
manipulates it that he, too, goes to camP.
ish Campaign in Detroit has served to solidify the major na- Herbie
Lennie is there, and Cliff. • The camp story is so
tional causes represented in the • United Jewish Appeal hilarious that its satirical analysis will cause many
(United Palestine Appeal, Joint Distribution Committee, a former camper to laugh his sides into pain.
United Service for New Americans), the civic-protective Camp owners won't like it,—except that they are
unquestionably smart enough to know that the old
movements and local educational and social service organiza- ways
of miserly camp directing are gone.
tions. But the unified effort has not been sufficiently strong
The
ends happily. Herbie emerges a hero
to put an end to the multiplicity of campaigns. Each move- with the story
project he carries out at camp. He saves
ment has certain claims which it considers paramount and his father's business by discovering a lost document
basic and the supplementary appeals for funds continue to without which the ice business would have had
to be sold. He wins Lucille's affection, but already
tax the community's energies and incomes.
the red-head is flirting with another boy.
The statement of the Jewish Welfare Federation with re-
Wouk's "The City Boy" is not a juvenile
story. It is a magnificent tale for young and
lation to the current Aid-to-Israel drive undertaken by the
old—and the older you are the more will you
Bnai Brith in behalf of Materials for Palestine, Inc., may well
enjoy the humor in the excellent story by the
serve as a basis for future negotiations between the major
very able author who apparently, in describ-
fund-raising agency and other causes which seek aid for sur-
ing the Bronx public school episodes, was
reconstructing personal experiences in the
viving Jews in Europe and the State of Israel. The Federation
schools of the city of his birth.
statement, published in this issue, makes several important
The references to the Jewish holidays and
points:
customs and the nearly-total Jewish cast give
"The City Boy" a Jewish touch and almost
The Allied Jewish Campaign, which this year has
could justify calling Herbie "the Jewish city
Harmonious Community Planning
raised $5,750,000 from more than 36.000 contributors, re-
mains "the only agency through which American Jews
can contribute funds for defense purposes in Israel."
*
"Westward Ha!" is different, nevertheless
great. It is typically Perelmanian. It is genuinely
The Aid-to-Israel drive of Bnai Brith for Materials
humorous, a great travel-adventure story and in
for Palestine, Inc., must be limited to basic needs, to the
its humor exposes many human fallacies. • In the
collection of automotive equipment, certain types of
distance of 25,000 miles, the Perelman-Hirschfeld
clothing and food, but this "campaign is not authorized
story covers Hollywood, Sharighai, Chinwangtao,
Singapore, Siam, Ceylon, India, Suez, Cairo, Alex-
to accept cash and is to refer such contributions to the
andria, cities in Italy, France and England.
Allied Jewish Campaign."
The trip ends with an avowal never again to
Having reached these decisions after consulting with the go through the misery of travel abroad and with
Bnai Brith and Zionist Council leaders, the Federation has an actual rejection of a million dollar offer to go
around the world.
made an approach to similar future problems which may
On "the road to Mandalay," Perelman des-
arise from fund-raising efforts involving needs corresponding
cribes himself as: "I was as glacial and reserved
with those being filled by causes included in the Allied Jew- as
Sumner Welles at a Bnai Brith picnic." "It's
ish Campaign.
Not the Heat, It's the Cupidity"—a chapter title
—suggests one of the approaches to some of the ex-
The Aid-to-Israel campaign should, as it undoubtedly periences by our travelers.
will, be successful. Much of the needed material already has
Egypt comes off the worst in the Perel-
been secured. By winding up the project on the day appointed
man-Hirschfeld adventure. The chapter "Bile
on the Nile" charges: "From the outset the
for its closing—Sept. 26—and by adhering to the decisions
Mraylarer is treated to every possible humil-
reached in the consultations with the Federation, Materials
iation a first-class bureaucracy can invent to
for Palestine will receive the necessary articles for Israel and
bedevil him. He is assumed to be a gallows
the field then will be left open for the annual SOS Day col-
bird, a smuggler, and an anarchist, and is dealt
with accordingly. To expose yourself to the
lections for the traditional Supplies for Overseas Survivors
Egyptian border official is to invite certain
project of the Joint Distribution Committee. Meanwhie a
apoplexy; it is a source of constant surprise
precedent has been set for cooperation to effect much-needed
to me that I was able to emerge from the Nile
harmonious community planning.
Delta without blood on my hands. They can
An Arab Fable Exposed
Basing his figures on a tally of Arab refugees from
Israel territory reported by Sir Raphael Cilento, head of the
UN Social Service Department, Leo Kaufman,' writing in the
Tel Aviv Hebrew daily Davar, shows that there are 288,000
Arabs who had fled from the State of Israel and 580,000 per-
manent residents in the Arab portion of Palestine. This
makes a total of 868,000 Palestinian Arabs. The British, how-
ever, had made claims to a population of 1,250,000 Arabs in
Palestine in official reports of the mandatory power. Where, ,
therefore, it is now asked, are the other 360,000 Arabs-L--the
figure with which the British padded their reports.
The answer is to be found in British. anti-Zionist policy.
Insofar as public opinion is concerned, however, it is essen- '
VOL. XIII—No. 26 Page 4 September 10, 1948 tial that the UN should know that figures were padded, that
the Arab strength was exaggerated and that attempts were
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
made to discredit the Jewish i3Osition.
This Sabbath, the seventh day of Elul, 5708, the
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
following Scriptural selections will be read in our
The British colonial system, on the other hand, will be
ynagogues:
plagued in the verdict of history by the question: where, oh
Pentateuchal portion—Dent. 16:18-21:9.
where, are the 360,000?
Prophetical portion—Is. 51:12-52:12.
well hang their heads, these gentry—prefer-
ably on a row of pikes along the waterfront."
This indictment happens to correspond
with accusations being made by every return-
ed traveler who curses the day he set foot
in Egypt. No wonder the Egyptians do not
like "Westward Ha!" But this serious note in
Perelman's book only makes the volume all
the greater. "Westward Ha!" is a must for
every person with a love for humor, for every
bookshelf of merit.
*
*
*
Mark Feder's "It's a Living" is an entirely dif-
ferent book. It is a volume of anecdotes and short
stories dealing exclusively with Jewish life. The
book is well described by Harry Hershfield who
states in the foreword: "Mark Feder understands
people and their foibles, as well as their strengths.
He ... has a keen sense of the ridiculous, yet with
a comic logic hard to dispute. His humor is a dis-
tinct contribution to the .world scene and for the
making of a more universal kameraderei."
Feder's sense of humor is natural, eloquently
enchanting. His descriptions of life in New York,
his stories about Jews—rich and poor—and about
popularized characters (schlemiels, vacationists,
the tailor • diplomats, et al) are superb. His read-
ers will love him and his book and will ask for
more of his stores after they are through reading
"It's a Living."