As the Editor Views the News .. . W elcome, . Israel • • • Growing Anti-Semitism A new anti-Semitic German weekly, ap- pearing in Salzburg, in the American accupa- tion zone, under the name "Die Neue Front,' makes the shocking declaration that the "de- struction of several million Jews and Poles" during World War II is far surpassed by the anti-Germanism being practiced today in the East and Southeast and in the Balkans." This paper has stated brazenly that there were pogroms in Europe before Hitler, that there is no "aggressive" anti-Semitism in Austria today and that the Austrian people had "forgotten" the Nuernberg laws and gone back to their "traditional views toward the chosen people." The subtlety with which this new peri- odical propagates anti-Jewishness is too clear to need elaboration. It now is generally admitted that anti-Semitism is on the in- crease • in Germany. Dr. Karl Scharnagle, Mayor of Munich, one of 39 German munic- ipal religious and trade union leaders who arrived in the United States last week to ob- serve democracy at work, emphasized that anti-Semitism still exists. His admission, how- ever, was made in typical German style, by attributing German bias to the presence in Germany of non-German Jews.- His state- ment that "the Nazis persecuted Jews and Christians alike, so we must all cooperate to attain human dignity and rights" hardly justified his observation, and his sanctimon- Leonard Lyons' column "The Lyons Den" in the March 2 ious air in declaring that "it is our respon- sibility to God" does not correct a charge issue of the New York Post carried an item which, more than which at one time was made against Polish any other appeal, should stir American Jews to continued liberal giving to the great cause of Israel's upbuilding. The Jews by the Nazis. Is it possible that Germans, who fail to item: GIFT: Prof. Almira of the Institute of Mathematics at admit guilt in the wholesale murder of mil- the University of Jerusalem, is visiting in New York now. lions of people, will properly observe de- He tells of a New Yorker who heard Lord Balfour make a mocracy at work? We are beginning to doubt speech in the hills of Jerusalem, and was so touched that it even in the instance of spokesmen for their he asked: "What can I do to help?" He was told that religious and .labor movements. Most Worthwhile Thing in Life Group Libel Bill A Group Libel Bill, sponsored in the U. S. House of Representatives by five members of Congress, aims at stopping the distribution of libelous material—including, of course, vile anti-Semitic literature—on the grounds that distribution of publications which de- fame ethnic groups is harmful to public in- terests and to the national welfare of this $100,000 would build the Institute of Mathematics, and he donated the money as an anonymous contribution ... The man later lost his fortune in the 1929 stock crash. In 1938 Prof. Almira received a phone call from the man, at 2 a.m. He was at the King David Hotel, and said: "I'd like to see the institute I built, before I die. It's the only worthwhile thing I've done in my life." At 3 a.m. he - was shown through the building, and Almira never saw him again. This interesting story has many important counterparts. Noted Jews from many lands have said again and again that what they did in Israel, to assure the success of the Jewish country. National Home, proved the greatest thing in their lives. Many. Drafted with the help of the Commission Russian and British Jews, whose fortunes were wiped out dur- on Law and Social Action of the American ing depressions, found satisfaction in the investments they Jewish Congress, the proposed bill would pre- made in Eretz Israel. vent defamatory literature from crossing In the midst of the great United Jewish Appeal campaign, state lines and would therefore freeze bigotry American Jews would do well to study this item carefully. in its tracks. The bill makes it a federal crime for any Israel's Finance Minister Eliezer Kaplan, prior to his return person "with intent to create 'against to the Jewish State after negotiating with the United States a racial or religious group" to mail, import or Government for issuance of the $100,000,000 loan and taking distribute in interstate commerce any printed part in peace efforts in the UPA and UJA ranks, made -the statement that the Jews of America have not yet grasped or mimeographed material which exposes any the significance of changes in Israel and in Jewish life else- individual or group of individuals to hatred, contempt, obloquy, aversion or injury be- where. .A good response to the UJA—in Detroit it is the Allied cause of his or their race or religion. In Jewish Campaign—will prove that we are beginning to learn order to eliminate threats to freedom of the importance of the great hour in which we live. speech, the bill provides that truth or rea- In Jerusalem last week, Dr. Israel Goldstein, treasurer of sonable and honest belief in the truth of the the Jewish Agency, welcoming the UJA delegation, stated statements circulated is an absolute defense. that $400,000,000 will be required in 1949 to finance the settle- The bill also places upon the defendant "the ment and absorption of 250,000 Jewish immigrants from Eu- burden of coming forward with evidence( rope and North Africa, and warned: "If the UJA does not upon the issues of truth and lack - of intent to fulfill its $250,000,000 goal, we will have to tell the refugees create ill-will," thus precluding the possibil- to stay where they are." ity that bigots escape penalty by merely con- We shall have to recognize that even the $250,000,000 UJA tending that they honestly believed the libels fund—if the entire amount is to be raised—will be insufficient they had been spreading. for the current needs. Mr. Kaplan indicated that Israel needs Along with FEPC legislation, the fight $1,250,000,000 in capital, to be raised through international, against racist immigration laws and the bat- state and private loans, to carry on its construction program, tle to end the quota systems in our colleges, and it is rather ludicrous to hear that the first million thus the Group Libel Bill occupies a place of ma- far has been received as investment capital from this country. jor importance on the calendar of fighters for A call has been issued by UJA's general chairman, freedom and justice. Libertarians must mo- Henry Morgenthau, Jr.; for the immediate gathering of bilize their forces in support of this measure an advance fund of $50,000,000 to meet "critically urgent" which would not only reduce to a minimum needs. Detroit leaders were among the 15,000 people in the activities of anti-Semites but also would 150 communities who heard this plea in the nationwide destroy the anti-Negro and other move- telephone conference last week. Mr. Morgenthau's appeal ments that cater to the basest elements in was supplemented by a message from Berl Locker, chair- our population. The American Jewish Con- man of the Jerusalem executive of the Jewish agency, gress has earned gratitude for its efforts in who declared: "The Jews cannot merely be brought to the fight against bigotry. THE JEWISH NEWS Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Seven Arts Fea- hire Syndicate, King Features, Central Press Association, Palcor News Agency. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing 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 Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor VOL. XV—No. 1 Page 4 March 18, 1949 Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the eighteenth day of Adar, 5709, e following Scriptural selections will be read in ur synagogues: Pentaeuchal portions Ex. 30:11 34:35; Nub. 19 t h — - Prophetical portion—Ezek. 36:16-38. the shores of Israel and dumped there. They must be helped to earn their own living. They must be helped quickly to stand on their own feet so that they may be removed forever from the budget of Jewish fund-raising." Each successful drive brings us closer to such an objective, and the Jews of Detroit must offer their resources to pro- vide the initial $50,000,000 fund and to assure success for the $250,000,000 UJA campaign. The responsibility that faces us is so great that it almost staggers us. It is very urgent that Jews should realize that miracles are not daily occurrences and that the issues must be faced realistically in the best interests of Jewry's and Israel's future. A successful UJA drive is the first obligation. Next come the investment opportunities. By fulfilling both we shall be continuing the tradition of doing the greatest things Jews can hope for in their lives. Blue and White Boxes: Schwartz Reviews JNF's Great Bibical Ideals By DAVID SCHWARTZ (Copyright, 1949, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) I was struck by a remark made by Major Abba Eban, Israeli representative to the United Nations speaking at the recent- Jewish National Fund conference. In Israel, he said, we already find the system of free enterprise working side by side and at peace with advanced forms of socialism. This, is a remark- able thought. In Israel, one finds collectives or kibutzirn as" they are called, more socialistic even than Soviet Russia. In Soviet Russia, one may buy things, one's clothes, even one's house may belong to the individ- ual—but in some of the kibutzim there is absolutely no private property at all. The very shoes and shirt you wear today may be worn next month by another. And yet alongside these com- munities, there exist in perfect harmony other groups operating on more familiar in- dividual lines. - If in Israel this can be done, why can't it be done in the world at large? Certainly, the world will have to learn this lesson, or face catastrophe. But there is another lesson which, Major Eban might have , pointed out, Israel is teaching the world. He might have pointed to the Jewish Na- tional Fund as something which all nations might emulate. The ideal of the Jewish National Fund is the implementation of the ancient Biblical idea that the soil can never be private pro- perty. "The earth is the Lord's," say the Scrip- tures. "The land shall not be sold in perpetu- ity." The words on our own American Lib- erty Bell at Philadelphia: "Proclaim liberty to all the land and all its inhabitants thereof," were not metaphors. The liberty the Bible speaks of, was not some- thing abstract. It means the liberty of access to the land. That meant you had a chance to work.. You could build a home. You could till the soil and raise crops. Liberty of the land therefore meant freedom from unemployment, from hunger, from high rents and high prices. It meant there would be no tenant farmers in our sense, no share croppers. It was the same ideal as that of a modern Henry George or of a Franz Oppenheimer, who went even further than George in contending that the abolition of land monopoly would end secondary monopolies and also would result in the virtual abolition of interest on capital. I never look at those blue-and-white boxes in which we drop nickles and dimes and quarters as merely collection boxes. This blue- and-white box seems to me rather something like a mezzuza. I hope I am not being blas- phemous when I say that perhaps we should kiss it as we drop a coin in it, even as pious Yews kiss the mezzuza. I cannot escape the feeling that these blue-white boxes stand for something much bigger than charity. They stand for justice, for there can be no justice as tong as the right of man's access to the good earth is denied. They stand for the great principle of the Jubilee proclaimed by the Bible, the Jubilee of the earth for which all humanity is striving. More immediately, they will be the means of providing for the absorption of the hundreds of thous-ands of' Jewish immigrants now directing their feet eastward, as formerly they directed their prayers. Judge Rothenberg, president of the JNF, has just presented a program for the ac- quisition of one million dunams of land for the coming year. That is a large amount, equal to the total land acquisitions in the half century of the existence of the Jewish National Fund. (The Jewish News is pleased to announce that its distinguished columnist, Mr. David Schwartz, will deliver a series of addresses in Detroit and other nearby communities. Mr. Schwartz will address Arlazaroff Branch of the Farband at the Labor Zionist Institute on Wednesday, March 30; the Midrasha and the faculty of the United Hebrew Schools on Saturday night, Feb. 2; the Farband branches, at a special joint gathering, on Sunday, Feb. 3; and the Bnai Brith of Flint on April 5. Arrangements are being made for addresses by Mr. Schwartz on March 31, April 1 and April 4, details to be announced next week.) Facts You Should Know .. . What is a Chuppah? The term Chuppah is the name given to the bridal 'canopy under which bride and groom are married according to Jewish tradition. The term Chuppah supposedly comes from a Hebrew word meaning to cover. Since the canopy is in reality a cover of a sort, it is fittingly referred to as a chuppah which literally means a cover. The sim- plest reason for using the Chuppah at a traditional wedding ceremony is that in Jewish life marriage is regarded as a revered institution. Thus it is claimed by many that the original connotation of the term Chuppah indicated the room which bride and groom had chosen to occupy. * #* Why do traditional Jews refrain from having two brothers or sisters married on the same day? This is an ancient tradition going at least as far back as the 13th century when we find ,in the Testament of Rabbi Judah the Chasid, that a man "shall not marry, off two of his children on the same day." •