As the Eilidor Views the i%cws Bring Them In! Bialik in Translation Complete Poetic Works of Noted Hebrew Writer A Happy 1949 We are on the eve of another important year. While international issues reached boiling points during 1948, the New Year 1949 is being ushered in with hope that prob- lems among nations will be adjusted and that peace will be assured through proper nego- tiations within the framework of the United Nat ions. The controversy with Russia is not beyond repair. The Middle East can be made peace- ful and fruitful—provided that perfidy is avoided. 'Through proper approaches, there is no reason for abandoning hopes for peace in other parts of the world. Unless reactionary elements are permitted to destroy our economy, there is no reason for an interruption in the prosperity of our count r\ - - t he type of prosperity which should inspire an economic upsurge throughout the Let us :tart 1949 with optimism. confident that mankind must go forward, and we shall have a Very Happy New Year. A Case of Fright E•cause of the involvement of a Jew as the central chalacter in the British Parliamen- tary i rlclui ry into alleged bribery- of govern- ment officii.k. serious concern is expressed by the Jewish communities in Great Britain over the possible effects of the case. There i in evidence an unjust reaction to Jewry in the British press. References to the Jewish oath - taken by witnesses with cov- ert•d heads and other comments have left bad tastes. In the course of the Parliamentary hear- ings, it became necessary for the Attorney General, Sir Hartley Shawcross, to make these comments: - "There are some who think the matters un- der investigation here, or some of them, in- volved some reflection on the Jewish commun- ity. That is an unfortunate, and as I submit, an unjustified impression. The position surely is this: If one has occasion to examine the activities of any particular individdal one usually finds that his associates and acquain- tances are mainly to be found in the same community as himself. "Possibly some of the Jews involved were not of particularly good repute, but that af- fords no basis or justification for an attack on Jews generally. They form a valuable and integral part of our community as a whole, and I think that is something which should be s ► id." It is sass yiough that it was necessary for the Prosecutor to say these things.. But vast- l‘ . more dLtiirbing is the fact that one of the p , ∎ litical parties has become so fright- CH ∎ hy the char:2.es in this case that it has Winuirawn from a Parliamentary contest the name , of a Jewish candidate. Ey yielding, to fear. already aggravated by the British- Israeli issue. basic principles are being sac- rificed and justice is unduly abused. There have been man.- occasions for doubts and fears in British-Jewi.%-t ranks. Dr. Chaim Weizmann relates in his autobiography, "Trial and Errc- --.-," that the Jews in England were frightened over their British loyalties in the l'itanda issue and that it took years to brii.; them back to their practical Zionist senses. More recently some Jews in England were disturbed over the Palestinian situation on the basis of their position as citizens. For- tunately, the community as a whole handled itself unusually well. It is to he hoped that incidents of the na- ture of the bribery case will not cause undue fright among Jews. It is impossible to avoid some semblance of law-breaking in a normal community and there is no earthly reason why Jews alone should be expected to pro- duce only angels in their ranks. If we yield to fear. we harm our position as citizens. By avoiding fear, we help the community at large. THE JEWISH NEWS Member Jewish Telegiaohic Agency. Independent Jewish Press Service, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate. Palcot Agency. King Features. Central Press Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publish- trig 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 Poet Of- fice Detroit. Mich under Act of March 9 1879. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ. Editor VOL. XIV—No. 16 Page 4 December 31, 1948 • ----- • Sabbath Hanukah and Rosh Hodesh Tebet Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the thirtieth day of Kislev, 5709, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portions—Gen. 4:1-44:17; Num. 28 9-15. 7:42-53. Prophetical portion—Zech. 2:14-4:7. On Sunday, Hanukah and Rosh Hodesh Tebet, Num. 28:1-15:7, 48-53 will be read during morning services. On Monday, last day of Hanukah, Num. 7:54-8:4 will be read. t A DMISSION OF ISRAEL TO UN Unity Alone Can Aid Israel Histadruth Ivrith of America (165 W. 46th St., New York 19) has made a departure from its' previous policy of publishing all its works in He- brew. By publishing "The Complete Poetic Works" of Hayyim Nah- man Bialik in an English translation, it enters a new field of activity. That this effort is eminently worthy is evident from the text itself, the excel- lent translations, the able editorship and the illustrations. Thus, four factors combine -to make this a great work: 1. The poems by the great Hebrew poet Lau- reate. 2. The splendid illus- trations by the noted ar- tist, Lionel S. Reiss. 3. The fine work of the editor of this volume, H. N. Bialik Dr. Israel Efros, who wrote the introductions. 4. The superb translations by the following: Ben Aronin, Bertha Beinkinstadt, Mortimer I. Cohen, Harry H. Fein. R. J. Feiwel, Reginald V. Feldman, Helena Frank, Florence Louie Fried- man, Grace Golden, Leon M. Herbert, Abraham M. Klein, I. M. Lask, Philip M. Raskin, Nina Sala- man, Jessie Sampter, Maurice Samuel, L. V. Snowman. Alexander Alan Steinbach. While, in alt honesty, the editor in his introduction quotes Bialik's comment en translations—"He who reads his people's lit- erature in translation is like one who kisses his mother's face through a veil"—the reader of this collection is certain to express the wish that there were more such marvelous works to be kissed through veils. Some of the poems are very long. "The Scroll of Fire" occupies 45 pages. The famous poem. "The Matmid" is 21 pages .long. There are many short ones. But, long or short. all are inspiring and en- chanting. The entire collection breathes with the spirit of the magnetic genius of the great author. Whether it is - The City of Slaughter" or "To a Bird," the charm and power of Bialik are in evi- dence in every line in this volume. There is universality, humanity, justice. ap- peals to reason and to the Maccabean spirit in this great work. Bialik becomes a reality in these pages for those readers for whom he was hitherto a myth—because he wrote in Hebrew—and who waited for this complete collection of his poems in a good English translation. Israeli Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan's history-making announcement of the floating of three important national loans was accompanied by a disturbing statement. Mr. Kaplan expressed the hope that it would be possible to stabilize Israel's Treasury in this era of mounting needs, especially in view of the last few financially difficult months during which help from abroad had declined in comparison with the contributions that were received during the summer months. This revelation must have come as a shock to zealous American Jews into whose ears is being dinned the constant- ly repeating appeal of "aid Israel . . . aid Israel" . . . Mr. Kaplan makes it clear that the Jewish Agency has not received enough funds from abroad to cover the cost of absorbing new - immigrants: that Israel's already overbur- dened population is carrying the brunt of responsibility in welcoming the liberated Jews from displaced persons camps; and that it is hoped that contributions will increase in the months to come. If it is not yet clear to American Jewry that the United Jewish Appeal is the major, all-inclusive fund-providing project upon which Israel depends for possibly 98 per cent The Outpouring of the Soul of its income for the settlement of hundreds of thousands of immigrants. then let it be stated again. There are many worthy causes which supplement the UJA income. But without the LTJA Israel would not be able to subsist and the Jewish State could not have welcomed the nearly 120,000 Jews who settled in Medinat Israel during 1948. Having expressed anxiety over the availability of funds, A Daily Prayer Book in itself is no longer a Mr. Kaplan has given American Jews something to think book to call for review. But when a Prayer Book carries Notes and Commentaries by so eminent a about. We can't continue to shout "aid Israel" slogans as scholar as the late Chief Rabbi Joseph H. Hertz long as the ranks of Israel are split on too many fund-raising of the British Empire, fronts. If some of the divisive drives are responsible for the it becomes ''a great his- slackening of fund-raising on the maj6r front. it is time for torical work on Jewish an accounting. of our efforts and for re-evaluation of our liturgy," as the publish- ers — Bloch Publishing needs. If the diminution of funds is due to other conditions, Co.. New York--refer to then community spokesmen must pool their thinking and this magnificent 1.142- their resources to assure for Israel the vast sums that are page volume. needed to complete the job of liquidating the DP campg and This first American revised edition of the of establishing an economically strong Jewish State. Hertz edited Daily Pray- The coming year will be a crucial one for Israel. In 1948, er Book contains the He- the Jewish State won the fight on the battlefront; in 1949, brew text. English trans- Israel must establish itself securely. in the industrial sphere lations and the commene Late Dr. Hertz taries. in addition to being assured of means for defense. This can It is interestingly noted that Dr. Hertz, who be accomplished—provided we work together. But if we di- did not live to see the completion of this great vide our energies, Israel—the People and the State—will be work, nevertheless had completed all proof cor- rections and the last topic he checked was "Con- harmed. Since none of us would consciously harm Israel, all fession on Death-Bed" on page 1064. of us must cooperate in our fund-raising efforts in behalf of The introductory essay is a masterful evalua- Israel. Late Dr:Hertz's Superb Daily Jewish Prayer Book Will Perfidy Never End? Conditions in all areas of the Middle East remain related. The renewal of warfare in the Negev, which resulted from Egyptian attacks on Israeli forces, came as a result of a vacil- lating United Nations' policy. Had the UN taken a strong stand, Egypt would not have dared flaunt international authority and we might, today, have had successful peace negotiations. Events in the Negev and in other Middle Eastern territories are inspired, in the main, by the anti-Israeli atti- tude of the present Bevin-controlled British Labor Govern- ment. Cyprus and its horrible concentration camps for Jews seeking admission to Israel are examples of British perfidy. The most shocking example of disregard for international public opinion is Britain's insistence upon the perpetuation of the Cyprus camps. Decribing conditions in Cyprus, in a radio address heard in New York from Tel Aviv, Morris Laub, Joint Distribution Committee director on Cyprus, stated: What is life in Cyprus like? The first thing you should learn is that the camps are, in effect, a prison—figuratively and liter- ally so. The area in which the camps are situated is surrounded by three rows of barbed wire, 10 feet high, spaced at intervals of 100 yards or so by watchtowers manned by armed guards both day and night, whose orders are to shoot to kill anyone who at- tempts to escape, and since Cyprus is a prison, some detainees have made attempts to escape, even at the risk of death. Only a few weeks ago, a youg man, Shlomo Chaimson, whose wife is in Israel, made that attempt and he was shot dead 30 feet from the fence. In his pocket was a telegram announcing the birth of his only son, two days earlier. Such experiences can be multiplied a thousand-fold. It is the perpetuation of Nazi tactics. Failure to stop such in- decency is an indication of the weakness of the United Nations in its present form. Will perfidy never end? tion of the paramount importance of prayer. Hebrew prayer is described as free from incan- tations, as a true "outpouring of the soul." Te- fillah is interpreted as "self-examination," as "an invocation of God as judge," as "an appeal for justice." A life-time effort is in evidence throughout the Prayer Book. Each topic is ably translated and in every instance the commentaries help the reader and worshipper understand the text and therefore feel more deeply its spiritual signifi- cance: The notes on "Pirke Aboth" ("Sayings of the Fathers") represent genuine scholarship. The Prayer Book's all-inclusiveness is impressive. Incorporation in it of the "Selection From Jewish Moralists" should serve as a guide to Jews and non-Jews in causing them to recognize the genius of Jewry's ethical leaders and teachers. This Prayer Book is a superb work. Everyone who possesses it surely must feel enriched. Facts You Should Know Why do we have to wear hats or "Yar- mulkes" when we are eating or in the house? We do not find this custom mentioned in the Bible except for the fact that a cap was part of the dress for the priests in the Temple (Ex. 39:28). It might be in order to say that every man should consider his home a temple and his table an altar. Every man is hence a priest as we are all together a "kingdom of priests," and so each of us should wear a head-gear to cover our heads "while eating or in the house." Observant Jews, however, keep their heads covered at all times. The origin for this adherence is found in the Talmud (Trcatate Kiddushin 31a) where we are told that Rav Huna, the son of Rabbi Joshua, never walked four steps without his head uncov- ered, because, as he put it "the Divine Presence is above me." Only a few pages further the Tal- mud relates that 'Ravin was once sitting to- gether with Rabbi Jeremiah of Difta when a bare- headed man passed by. Ravin thereupon ex- claimed: 'See how irreverent that man must be!'