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."