Exclusive in Michigan—Dr. Weizmann's Autobiography
Israel's Historic Challenge: Jewish State's
Formative Stages; Attitude to Religious issues
The lifetime of Chaim Weizmann, now spans the lifetime of
the Zionist movement he led during most of his years—a movement
with small beginnings which has culminated in establishment of
a new and independent nation. But the fight is not ove , Dr.
Weizmann continues his autobiography:
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By Chaim Weizmann
First Prsident of Israel
X II
The Challenge
I write this on the day following the historic decision of
the United Nations.
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As the year draws to a close the Jewish people, and
particularly the Zionists, face a very great challenge. Before
another year is over we must found a Jewish state ; we must
prepare a constitution, set up a government, organize our de-
fenses and begin to reconstruct the present National Home
so as to make it capable of absorbing some six thousand
immigrants a month.
ity, it cannot put the clock back
by making religion the cardinal
prineiple in the conduct. of the
state. Religion should be re-
legated to the synagogue and
the homes of those families that
want it; it should occupy a
special position in the schools;
but it shall not control the
ministries of state.
I have spoken of the problem
of our internal relations with
our Arab minority. We must
also face the ardous task of
achieving understanding and
co-operation with the Arabs of
the Middle East. The successful
accomplishment of this task will
depend on two important fac-
tors. First, the Arabs must be
given the feeling that the decis-
ion of the United Nations is
final and that the Jews will not
trespass on any territory outside
the boundaries assigned to
them. As to the latter, there
does exist such a fear in the
hearts of many Arabs, and this
fear must be eliminated in every
way. Second, they must see
from the outset that their bre-
thren within the Jewish state
are treated exactly like the
Jewish citizens. It will be neces-
sary to create a special depart- .
ment dealing with the non-Jew-
ish minority. The object of the
department shall be to asso-
ciate this minority with all the
benefits and activities which
will grow up in the Jewish state.
It is not the purpose of these
closing pages to outline the full
program of the Jewish state. An
enormous amount will have to
be left to trial and error, and
we shall have to learn the hard
way—by experience. These are
merely indications and signposts
pointing along the road which
in my opinion must be followed
if we are to reach our goal. This
goal is the upbuilding of a high
civilization based on the austere
standards of Jewish ethics.
From these standards we
must not swerve, as we unfor-
tunately have done during the
short period of the national
home, by bending the knee to
strange gods. The prophets have
always chastised the Jewish
people with the utmost severity
for this tendency, and when-
ever it slipped back in pagan-
ism, whenever it reverted, it
was punished by the stern God
of Israel. Whether prophets will
once more arise among the Jews
in the near future it is diffi-
cult to say. But if they choose
the way of honest and hard
and clean living, on the land in
settlements built on the old
principles, and in cities clean-
sed of the dross which has been
sometimes mistaken for civiliza-
tion, if they center their activi-
ties on genuine values whether
in industry, agriculture, science,
literature or art, then God will
look do w n benignly on His
But all these matters, whether0
in the realm of finance or of a house and hearth, and even
constitutional a r r a n g e ments, economize a little for a rainy
really deal with the externals of day. So much has been written
the situation The state is mere- and said\ about this side of our
ly a vessel into which the con- life, I need not expatiate on it
tents still have to be poured, here. I would only like to add
and it is necessary to know that if I had to begin my life
vf . h at the contents are likely to over again, and educate
my
e.
children again, I would perhaps
Now the first element in such emulate the _example of our
contents, and in my opinion the peasants in Nahalal or Daga-
very lifeblood of a stable society, niah.
is justice, and not merely as an
There is now an opportunity
abstract principle but as carried to acquire more land, create
out in the law courts and by to acquire more land, create more
the judiciary. It must be quick, and more of these settlements,
it must not be expensive — so and establish again a sort of bal-
that everyone has access to it— ance between the town and the
and it must be equal for every- village. Civilization is based
one. There must not be one law more on the village and on
for the Jews and another for God's earth than on the town,
the Arabs. We must stand firm however attractive certain fea-
by the ancient principle enun- tures of our town life may be.
ciated in our Torah: "One law It is the quiet nooks and cor-
and one manner shall be for ners of the village that the lan-
you and for the stranger that guage, the poetry and literature
sojourneth with you." In saying of a country are enriched. The
this, I do not assume that there stability of the country does not
are tendencies toward inequal- depend so much on the towns
ity or discrimination. It is as on the rural population. The
merely a timely warning which more numerous and the more
is particularly necessary because settled the latter, the wider
we shall have a very large Arab and more solid is the basis of
minority. I am certain that the the state. We do not need, in
world will judge the Jewish our case` to fear the conserva-
State by what it will do with tion or backwardness of the
the. Arabs, just as the Jewish Jewish' peasant, or the emer-
people at large will be judged gence of a kulak type. This can-
by what we do or fail to do in not happen any more under our
this state where we have been system. One would like to see
given such a wonderful oppor- an offset against the rapid
tunity after thousands of years growth of towns like Tel Aviv,
of wandering and suffering.
and Haifa. One should strive
toward decentralization of the
PROBLEMS OF EDUCATION
urban population, and not to-
But justice, though the first, ward the 'creation of monster
is only one of the elements in cities as we see in Europe and
the contents of the state. We America.
shall be faced with an import-
Many questions will emerge in
ant reform in the whole system the formative stages of the
of education, and particularly state with regard to religion.
in our elementary and secon- There are powerful religious
dary schools. We 'have at pre- communities in Palestine which
sent a system based on class now, under a democratic regime,
division. I think it is essential will rightly demand to asssert
to see that we have a unified themselves. I Viiink it is our
school system for which the duty to make it clear to them
state as a whole is responsible, from the very beginning that,
and not some political party whereas the state will treat with
r which 'tries to shape the mind the highest respect the true re-
of the child almost from the ligious feelings of the commun-
Cradle. Party control of educa-
tion makes for inefficiency and
LI VES
produces a bias in the minds
and soul of the- child from the
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very start. It will weaken, and
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WORLD-RENOWNED CHASSIDIC LEADER WHO
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not strengthen, the state. In-
NOW MAKES HIS HEADQUARTERS IN THE U.S.
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stead of partisanship, there must
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be citizenship which, of course,
transcends party interests.
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Our technical and higher ed-
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ucation has to be brought up to
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date and expanded with the
new needs of the state. We shall
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need railway engineers, harbor
engineers and shipbuilders. We
..7At
IV IP
KNOWN TOHISFOLLOWERS AND ADMIRERS AS
shall now have the opportunity
THE LUBAVITCHER RE86E,IIE WAS BORN IN
of introducing new industries.
THE RUSSIAN TOWN OF 1.1115AVITZ 68 YEARS AGO,
To this end we must enlarge
THE SCION OF A CHASSIDIC FAMILY.
.
greatly the available technical
skill, increasing it in quantity
and improving it in quality and
efficiency.
IN 1927 HE WAS IMPRISONED BY THE SOVIET
Happily we have made an ex-
POLICE AND WAS EXPELLED A YEAR LATER.
cellent colonization. I believe
we have, through our system of
land nationalization and co-op-
eratiVes, avoided many mistakes
from which old and powerful
states suffer in their economy
today. We have no "poor
whites," and we also have no
feudal landlords. We have a
,•••
healthy, intelligent, educated
WHEN HE VISITED THE U.S.IN 1929 HE WAS
small-holder who cultivates his
RECEIVED BY PRESIDENT HOOVER AT THE
'land intensively, in a scientific
WHITE HOUSE.HE LATER RETURNED TO EUROPE
way, is able to extract susten-
TO CONTINUE HIS RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES.
ance in a dignified fashion from
a comparatively small plot, have
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SC°
Impressive Ceremonies Mark
Center-JWV Ground-Breaking
During the ground-breaking ceremony, while the audience
was singing Hatikvah: Left, SAMUEL J. RHODES; Right,
O
RABBI MORRIS ADLER.
a a a
of life and for the Jewish way 4
of life, which will live on in this
proj ect."
Greeting the occasion in the
name of the Jewish communi!-y,
Isidore Sobeloff, executive direc-'
for of the Jewish Welfare Fed-
eration, said, "This building
project of the Jewish Commu-
nity Center represents. the fruit
of your contributions, of your
interest in the community and
your participation in the Allied
Jewish Campaign."
Others on the program in-
cluded Rabbi Joshua S. Sperka,
who gave the invocation, Harry
T. Madison and Harold F. Moran
of the Jewish War Veterans, and
Elaine Mittleman, a 9-year-old
member of the Dexter Branch of
the Jewish Center.
Ground was broken by Sam=
uel H. Warner, 6-year-old son of
Louis Warner, a deceased vet-
eran, and Harvey H. Goldman,
chairman of the building com-
mittee.
The closing benediction was
pronounced by Rabbi Morris Ad-.
ler.
The ground-breaking arrange-
ments committee included Gold-
man, Morris Garvett, Jacob Kei-
dan, Madison, Rhodes, Herman
Jacobs, Samuel Neuschatz and
Isadore Rosenberg.
An impressive ceremony
marked t h e ground - breaking
ceremony on the site of the
planned joint building of the
Jewish Community Center, Dex-
ter Branch and the JeWish War
Veterans' Memorial Home, on
Davison between Holmur and
Petoskey, on Sunday, April 24.
More than •00 people -Npartici-
pated in the ceremonies.
Acting Mayor George Edwards,
one of the principal speakers,
stated: "This is an auspicious
occasion because this building
will become a center for ac-
tivities of youth, for citizens as
well as veterans, a proving
ground for the best kind of citi-
zenship."
Samuel H. Rubiner, president
of the Jewish Community Cen-
ter, co-chairman of the oc-
casion, said, "On this ground we
will build something of greater
value than brick and mortar—
we are building a vehicle to en-
rich the lives of our boys and
girls in the Dexter neighbor-
hood, fbr which this community
has long and patiently waited."
As co-chairman of the occa-
sion, Samuel J. Rhodes, presi-
dent of the Jewish War Veterans
Memorial Home Associataion,
said, "The building which we
shall erect on this ground will
stand as a memorial for the 300
Jewish boys from this commu-
nity who did not return alive
after the last war. They fought
and died for the American way
'Circle' Chorus
Presents Concert
children who after a long wan-
dering have come home to serve
Him with a psalm on their lips
and a spade in their hands, re-
viving their old country and
making it a center of human
civilization.
Detroit Workmen's Circle
Chorus, directed by Dan Froh-
man, will present its 16th an-
nual concert Sunday, May 22, at
the Detroit Institute of Arts.
A program of traditional Jew-
ish, Hebrew and modern Pales-
tinian songs will be featured.
Sidney Shicoff, noted tenor, will
be guest artist. "
For reservations, call TO.
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In next* week's concluding in-
stallment of his autobiography,
Chaim Weizmann tells of his
work to secure United States
recognition "of Israel and of his
elevation to its presidency.
of 5-2580.
This' is a serialization of parts •
.
"Trial' and Error," by Chaim Weizmann,
Published by Harper & Brothers. Copy-
right, 1949, by the Weizmann Founda-
tion.
20
THE JEWISH NEWS
—
Friday, April 29, 1949
prod../ by NORMAN and SOL NO06.
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AT AN EARLY AGE.HE WAS NAMED HEAD OF A
FAMOUS TALMUDICAL ACADEMY.SCHOLARS CAME
TO HIS CLASSES FROM DISTANT PARTS.
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IN 1906 HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN
HAVING INFLUENTIAL CIRCLES ABROAD
HALT ANTI - JEWISH POGROMS TAKING
PLACE IN CZARIST RUSSIA.
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NOW INFIRKHE STILL CONTINUES TO GUIDE
THE NETWORK OF YESHIVOTH HE HAS
ESTABLISHED THROIJCWUIT TUE WORLD ... . .
HE CAME TO THE U.S.IN 1939 TO TAKE Ur
PERMAVENT RESIDENCE IN BROOKLYN,
N.Y. TEN YEARS LATER HE BECAME AN
AMERICAN CITIZEN.
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