Three Stations Set Up for JNF
Box Clearance Here on Sunday

Several hundred Jewish Na-
tional Fund Blue and White Box-
es have not been cleared during
the recent semi-annual box
clearance and a concerted effort
win be made on Sunday, Jan. 30,
to complete this job, Irving W.
Schlussel, president of the JNF
Council, announced.
"Many box-holders could not
be reached by our volunteer
workers because they were out of
the city or were not at home at
the time," Mr. Schlussel said. "A
number have moved, and some
are in outlying districts, thereby
complicating the box clearance
job. We therefore are setting
aside Sunday morning to facilitate
box clearance."
Mr. Schlussel said that volun-
teer workers will be present at
three stations to clear boxes from
10 a.m. to 12 noon on Sunday. The

three synagogues selected for this
purpose are:
Shaarey Zedek, Chicago and
Lawton; Northwest Hebrew Con-
gregation, Curtis and Santa Rosa,
and Beth Aaron, Thatcher and
Wyoming.
Box-holders are asked to bring
their boxes to these stations.
Receipts will be issued to them
at the time of clearance.
Mr. Schlussel also urges those
who do not now possess boxes to
secure them at these stations on
Sunday morning.
"Income from the JNF boxes
augments our traditional income
for land redemption in Israel,"
Mr. Schlussel said. "It is esti-
mated that more than $104,000,-
000 will be needed this year for
this purpose to acquire new lands
and to compensate Arabs who
have left their lands when they
fled the country."

Purely Commentary

2

THE JEWISH NEWS

—

Friday, January 28, 1949

Blaustein Heads
Jewish Committee

NEW YORK. (JTA)—The im-
pact of the establishment of the
state of Israel on American Jew-
ry and the broad national cam-
paign to implement civil rights in
the United States were the major
subjects of discussion at the
three-day annual meeting of the
American Jewish Committee be-
ing held at the Hotel Astor.
The panel devoted to Israel, at
which Maurice Wertheim, former
president of the American Jew-
ish Committee, presided, unan-
imously agreed that complete po-
litical separation must be main-
tained between Jews who are cit-
izens of the U. S. and those who
are nationals of Israel, although
recognizing that Israel requires
all the financial and moral sup-
port of American and other Jews
that it can get.
The workshop group devoted
to civil rights in the United

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

The Big, Big Eyes of the Arab World

Oculists should make a study of Arab eyes. Politicians in the
Arab world, having acquired an empire, remain dissatisfied. Here is
an interesting comparative situation:
There are 400 people to every square mile in Europe, 43 people
to every square mile in the United States and only 19 to every square
mile in Europe. But the Arabs would like to capture a few thousand
square miles of Israel's territory. Imagine it!
Actual figures are: In an area of 1,969,379 square miles in Europe,
I. M. Engel
J. Blaustein
there are 400,278,003 people. The area of the U. S. is 3,022,387 square
miles, for a population of 131,669,275. But the Arab area of 4,949,627 States, headed by Ben Herzberg,
square miles has a population of only 76,513,892.
chairman of the legal and civic
By comparison, Israel, in its 8,000 square miles, has a population affairs committee, voiced strong
of 750,000. ••,
There ought to be a special United Nations commission—one disapproval of the practice, which
more may not hurt!—to study such inequities—and incidentally to exists in many states, of segrega-
find out how far the Arabs will be permitted to go in land-grabbing tion of educational facilities.
On the question of releasing
with Britain's support.
Dr. Weizmann's View on the Influence of Religion in Israel
children from public schools for
Dr. Chaim Weizmann's "Trial and Error" (Harper) makes an sectarian religious instruction
interesting comment on the influence of religion upon the State during "working" school hours,
of Israel. He writes:
"I have never feared really religious people. The genuine type Mr. Herzberg pointed out that
has never been politically aggressive; on the contrary, he seeks no the Supreme Court's ruling in the
power, he is modest and retiring—and modesty was the great feature McCollum case=declaring the re-
in the lives of our saintly Rabbis and sages in olden times. It is the lease of children from the public
new, secularized type of Rabbi, resembling somewhat a member of schools an unconstitutional use of
a clerical party in Germany, France or Belgium, who is the menace, the public school system in aid of
and who will make a heavy bid for power by parading his religious religion—"has by no means put
convictions. It is useless to point out to such people that they trans- an end to the system of released
gress a fundamental principle which has been laid down by our
sages: 'Thou shalt not make of the Torah a crown to glory in, or a time, although in a few areas it
spade to dig with.' There will be a great struggle. I foresee some- has, resulted in the discontinu-
thing which will perhaps be reminiscent of the Kulturkampf in Ger- ance of the practice."
many, but we must be firm if we are to survive; we must have a clear
In a State of Views outlin-
line of demarcation between legitimate religious aspirations and the ing the American Jewish Com-
duty of the State toward preserving such aspirations, on the one
mittee's attitude toward the
band, and on the other hand the lust for power which is sometimes
State of Israel, the U. S. Gov-
exhibited by pseudo-religious groups."
ernment is lauded for granting
Earlier in his book, Dr. Weizmann recalls that "undignified
recognition to Israel, President
scenes he had witnessed in the synagogue ... imbued my father with
truman is hailed for his sup-
his lifelong hatred of clericalism, and of the exploitation of religion
for a livelihood." But he writes about his father as being "a deeply port and the following declara-
religious man, respectful of tradition and of scholarship."
tion is made with regard to
Dr. Weizmann's blunt references to the "secularized type of
citizenship rights:
Rabbi" may cause another controversy over "the menace" of those
"We hold the establishment
who parade their religious convictions.
of the State of Israel to be an
Colonel Hoskins' Role in Anti Zionism
event of historic significance.
Dr. Chaim Weizmann's Autobiography introduces us again to
We applaud its recognition by
Colonel Hoskins, whose name was not unfamiliar to Jewish quarters
our own and other govern-
in this country. We knew that this man was antagonistic to us, but
ments. We look forward to Is-
we did not realize the extent of his destructive efforts until we read
rael's assumption of its full
of Dr. Weizmann's experiences with him.
place among the family of na-
In his great book, "Trial and Error," Dr. Weizmann describes his
tions as a government guaran-
conversation with Churchill before he had left for the United States,
teeing complete equality to all
at President Roosevelt's invitation, to work on chemical substitutes
for rubber. Churchill said to Weizmann with regard to Jewish hopes
its inhabitants, without regard
in Palestine: "I want you to know that I have a plan, which of course
to race, creed or national ori-
can only be carried into effect when the war is over. I would like
gin, and as an advocate of lib-
to see Ibn Saud made lord of the Middle East—the boss of the bosses
erty and peace in the Near East
—provided he settles with you. Of course, we shall help you. Keep
this confidential, but you might talk it over with Roosevelt when and throughout the world. Cit-
izens of the United States are
you get to America. There's nothing he and I cannot do when we
Americans and citizens of Is-
set our minds on it."
Then, towards the end of this chapter called "America at War,"
rael are Israelis; this we af-
firm with all its implications;
Dr. Weizmann makes this shocking revelation:
"The Americans who worked in the Middle East were, with few
and just as our own govern-
exceptions, either connected with the oil companies or attached to the
missions in Beyrouth and Cairo. For one reason or another, then, they
ment speaks only for its citi-
were biased against us. They communicated their bias to American agents
zens, so Israel speaks only for
in their territory. Thus it came about that all the information supplied
from the Middle East to the authorities in Washington worked against us.
its citizens. Within the frame-
"Nor could we ever really find out what was happening behind the
work of American interests, we
scenes. One story will illustrate the queer, obscure tangle of forces
shall aid in the upbuilding of
through which we had to find our way. I have told, in another part of
this chapter, how Mr. St. John Philby, the confidential agent of Dm Saud,
Israel as a vital spiritual and
brought us an "offer," which seemed to coincide with the "plan" which
cultural center and in the de-
Mr. Churchill put so' hastily bfeore me a few hours before my departure
for America. In America I met a Colonel Hoskins, of the Eastern Division
velopment of its capacity to
of the State Department, whom I understood to be the President's personal
provide a free and dignified
representative in the Middle East. Colonel Hoskins was not friendly to our
cause: on the other hand, he was not as hostile as his colleagues of the
life for those who wish to make
Eastern Division: in fact he was, by comparison, rather reasonable. In his
it their home."
opinion, something could be done in Palestine if the Jews would, as he
Jacob Blaustein of Baltimore
called it. "moderate their demands." He spoke of bringing half a million
Jews into Palestine in the course of the next twenty years, quite a "con-
was elected president of the
cession" for one who was opposed to Zionism.
committee to succeed Judge Pros-
"Colonel Hoskins left for the Middle East, and when I saw him on
his return his tone was very different. He said he had visited Ibn Saud,
kauer. Irving M. Engel of New
who had spoken of me in the angriest and most contemptuous manner,
York was chosen chairman of the
asserting that I had tried to bribe him with twenty million pounds to ;
sell out Palestine to the Jews. I was quite staggered by this interpretation
executive committee.
put on a proposal which I had never made, but a form of which bad in
Detroiters elected to the na-
fact been made to me by Ibn Saud's representative—St. John Philby.
Mr. Hoskins reported further that Ibn Saud would never again permit
tional
executive committee are
Mr. Philby to cross the frontiers of his kingdom. Some time later I told
Julian H. Krolik, Isadore Levin
St. John Philby of Colonel Hoskins' report. Philby dismissed it as
"bloody nonsense." The truth was that the relations between Philby
and Mrs. Joseph M. Welt. They
and Ibn Saud had never been better, and these relations, I might add,
augment the Michigan represen-
remain unchanged as I write this.
"What was one, what is one, to snake of all this? Did Ibn Saud delib-
tation on the national executive,
erately misrepresent his position to Hoskins? Or had he said something
which includes Judge Charles W.
which could be interpreted as a complete reversal of his previous position?
And to whom else besides myself did Hoskins give this account of the con-
Simons, Henry Wineman, Leo M.
versation with Ibis Saud? And what effect did it have in the State
Butzel and Victor W. Klein of
Department? How was one to get at the truth—if there was a truth?"
All along, we suspected that Dr. Weizmann and the Zionist cause Detroit and Prof. I. Leo Sharf-
were maligned and misrepresented by our State Department. The man and Prof. William Haber of
situation was even worse thane we thought.
Ann Arbor. •
The complete story of intrigue against the Jewish people is yet
Other localites at the annual
to be told. Fortunately, it no longer matters very much. The fact is meeting were Mrs. Isadore Levin,
that the will to live and the justice of the cause have brought success
to Israel. Blessed be the cause of justice and those who insist upon Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Lewis and
fighting for it. • Mrs. Clement Hopp.

-

Plan 'Federation Forum- -1949'

MRS. LOUIS GLASIER, standing, h the chairman of the five.
meeting "Federation Forum—'49" which will be conducted weekly,
starting Feb. 7, at various constituent agencies of the Jewish Welfare
Federation. Assisting Mrs. Glasier are MRS. BENJAMIN JONES,
left, and MRS. HARRY AUGUST., The program planned consists
of discussions on various aspects of community life (youth, health,
etc.) followed by a come-and-see tour of an appropriate social agency.

Jewish National Fund Hamisha Asar
Project Sponsored in Schools Here

Traditional observance of Ha-
misha Asar b'Shevat—the Jewish
New Year of the Trees—which
occurs this year on Monday, Feb.
14, again is being sponsored by
the Jewish National Fund in all
Detroit Jewish schools.
Arthur Shutkin, executive di-
rector of the JNF Council, stated
this week that the Hebrew, con-
gregational, Sunday and folk
schools are being organized for
special educational projects and
the planting of trees.
Special projects outlined by the
educational department of the
JNF are being introduced in the
local schools and the children are
asked either to plant trees or to

contribute small sums towards
bulk planting of trees by the en-
tire school system.
Additional time is devoted in
most of the schools to discussions
of JNF objectives in Israel. Com-
mittees have been set up in all
schools and the children, in coop-
eration with the teachers, are
spurring this work in the interest
of land redemption in the Jewish
State.
Teachers and principals desir-
ing further information regarding
the JNF Hamisha Asar b'Shevat
project are asked 'to call Mr.
Shutkin at the JNF Council of-
fice, 11816 Dexter, TO. 8-7384.

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1949, Jewish Teleg.aphic Agency, Inc.)

Zionist Conflict

A major conflict is brewing now between the Jewish Agency
executive -and the leadership of the Zionist Organization of America.
.. The issue is: can the Jewish Agency interfere in internal affairs
of the United -Palestine Appeal and dictate who shall be the chair-
man of the United Jewish Appeal . . The ZOA and the UPA
leaders say "no," while five members of the American branch of
the Jewish Agency executive say "yes" . .. The Jerusalem executive
of the Jewish Agency seems to be inclined to support the latter;
however, Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, as chairman of the American
branch, ruled that this would be unconstitutional . . . In fact, he and
other ZOA leaders—together with leaders of Mizrachi and Revision-
ists in America—cabled Jerusalem that such interference on the
part of the Jewish Agency would undermine the authority of UPA,
affect its integrity and destroy its autonomy . . . The cable warned
the Jewish Agency against attempting to place American Zionists
in the position of rebels . . . It plainly said that a clash between the
Agency and the UPA over the question of jurisdiction may lead to
a bitter fight between Zionist groups in the United States and the
Jewish Agency executive . . . All this is, naturally, tied up with the
Morgenthau-Montor issue in which members , of the Jewish Agency
executive are trying to take a hand . . . The UPA wants Morgenthau
as general chairman of the United Jewish Appeal for 1949, but does
not want to give him the right to choose his assistants, fearing that
he may bring in Montor who is no longer connected with the UJA.

Communal Issue

Another great issue which American Jews will face soon is the
problem of multiple fund-raising campaigns for Israeli institutions
. .. In addition to the Zionist agencies which benefit from the UPA,
there are 12 Zionist groups which this year proclaimed cash cam-
paigns totalling $30,000,000 . . . Ten other groups aim to raise about
$5,000,000 in 1949 ... Then there is the $1,000,000 drive for the Polio
Institute of Palestine, the campaign of American Friends of Aviation
in Israel and separate drives for Irgunist, Revisionist and Agudah
projects . . . Not to speak of the $2,500,000 drive which the Zionist
Organization of America launched under the slogan "Food for
Israel," or the American Red Mogen Dovid campaign, or the
American Friendship Train for Israel . . . In addition to all these
drives, there are more than 60 other drives for institutions in Israel
which are not even registered with the Council of Jewish Federations
and Welfare Funds . . . None of the above campaigns includes the
investment campaigns such as $25,000,000 for the Israel Corporation
of America proclaimed by the ZOA or the $10,000,000 bond issue of
the American Palestine Trading Corporation, sponsored by the
Histadruth . . . There are about 100 fund-raising campaigns now
being conducted in the U. S. for various activities in Israel . . . The
Council of Jewish Federations will approach the Israeli Government
and the Jewish Agency executive in an attempt to check these
campaigns .. ThiS effort enjoys the fullest support of the UPA . .
Meanwhile, contributors will be asked by their local federations and
welfare funds to abstain from making contributions to non-coordi-
nated drives.
4,
*

Domestic Moods:

Why are many boards of directors of Jewish local and national
agencies made up entirely, or almost entirely of men? . . . This
question was posed at the General Assembly of the Council of
Jewish Federations in Philadelphia by Isidore Sobeloff in an interest- ,
ing paper on the role of women in community affairs which he read
. .. The answer was that this need not be so and will not continue
if women seek out assignments and perform them as satisfactorily ,
as they can . . . "There is an established American doctrine that
there's always room at the top," Sobeloff reminded his audience ..
And he appealed to the Jewish women to take a more active part in
community work . . . It is worth the time it takes to find out what
makes the wheels go 'round in our social agencies and in our federa-
tions, he told a special session . • . The session was intended for
women delegates, but was also attended by men ... His paper was
commended as one of the best presented at the Assembly.

