As the Editor
Views the News .
'Unauthorized' Drives
Urgent-
The Genius Schechter
OF EUROPE-
Formation by the Jewish Agency of a
special committee to eliminate "unauthorized
and illegitiniate" campaigns for funds on
behalf of Israel in order to assure priority
for the United Jewish Appeal as the central
fund-raising agency for the Jewish State in
this country should be welcomed with a great
deal of satisfaction. It is encouraging to
know that the government of Israel has for-
bidden its members and officials from en-
dorsing campaigns other than the UJA with-
out government authorization and it is sin-
cerely to be hoped that duplication of effort
in fund-raising and sponsorship of a
multiplicity of conflicting drives will be
ended.
The Jewish Agency has indicated that
"the. confusion created by multiple cam-
paigns endangers the success of the UJA,"
and has charged its newly-formed committee
with the following functions : To eliminate
unauthorized drives, to coordinate the tim-
ing and publicity of authorized campaigns in
order to assure maximum results for UJA
and to offer its services to the contributing
public as a guide to the validity of organi-
zations soliciting funds for Israel.
Detroit Acclaims Israel's Freedom
The problem is serious enough to call
for immediate action by the Agency's com-
mittee and it is sincerely to be hoped that all
On Sunday afternoon, at the State Fair Coliseum, the
American Jewish communities will cooperate Jewish community of Detroit will celebrate the first anni-
in efforts to end the "unauthorized and ille- versary of Israel's independence.
gitimate" campaigns.
Mobilization of all our forces, through the Zionist and
Jewish Community Councils, elevates this celebration to a
position of great significance as the over-all community
observance of the historic event.
At a national conference in Denver, the
The children's portion of the program, participation by
American Council of Christian Churches,
which claims to represent 115 Protestant de- the cantors and rabbis, inclusion in the ceremonies of Ameri-
nominations with a membership of 1,500,000 can and Israeli war veterans assures colorfulness to the oc-
in 6,000 congregations, went on record at- casion.
tacking the concept of National Brotherhood
It is imperative • that priority should be given to this
Week, as it is being sponsored by the Nation-
celebration
on Detroit's Jewish community calendar and
al Conference of Christians and Jews. In a
that an overflow audience should be present to join in re-
statement regarding "Brotherhood Week,"
this Council of Churches called the project a mission of our community's greetings to our kinsmen who
"gross perversion of scriptural teachings" on are building a democratic state in the Middle East.
the subject of Brotherhood and acserted that
Sunday's celebration has many important aspects. It
the "New Testaniiit does not teach the is good to be able to gather in a joyous celebration and to
univPrsal fatherhood of God and the univer- know that, at last, we need not call upon our people to as-
sal brotherhood of man" but only of people semble for protest gatherings against bigots and murderers.
who believe in Jesus Christ.
While we have not yet reached a state of complete broth-
This, quite clearly, leaves out the people erhood of man, the re-establishment of Israel brings us
who gave to Christianity the foundation for nearer to the day when we may be able to say that good
lip service.
its faith, its Psalms, the Old Testament, and, will is reality rather than
*
*
indeed, even the New Testament whose
The celebration on Sunday also challenges us to renew
authors were Jews. The Christian Council
whose misstep we painfully record here is, in our responsibilities to the builders of Zion. Not so long ago
our view, the act of an insignificant minority. it was estimated that it will cost more than three billion
We prefer to accept the attitude of a man dollars to settle a quarter of a million Jews in Israel. Now
like Edwin Markam who once said: "The we are trying to accomplish this task with less than a quar-
crest and crowning of all good, life's final ter of a billion dollars. It stands to reason that unprece-
star, is Brotherhood:" and we are confident dented and trying duties are ahead of us in the great under-
that Christians, in the main, will give pref- taking of guaranteeing Israel's future and of making it pos-
erence to the sentiments of an eminent sible for the remaining displaced persons in Europe, the Jews
Christian leader, the late Rev. Lyman Ab- of Eastern Europe and the Arabic countries to find new
bott, whom we quote : "The brotherhood of homes in the Jewish State.
man is an integral part of Christianity no
Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, in a state-
less than the Fatherhood of God; and to ment addressed to the Jews of England last month, pointed
deny the one is no less infidel than to deny out that while Israel is subjected to austerity, Jews in the
the other."
Diaspora are expected to display their o-enerosity in the
great task of state-building. Israel's Prime M
' inister stated:
"Our Parliament—the Knesset—has approved the mo-
bilization of our entire nation and every individual in it
for
the implementation of projects, of large immigration
Halevy Singing Society, now in its 24th
and agricultural and industrial development. We shall tax
year of service to the Jewish community,
has realized an ambition to have a music ourselves to the limit.
center of its own through which to serve the
"We shall introduce strict austerity to concentrate the
entire community. The ceremony that took whole of our energies on the main task, and I confidently
place on Sunday afternoon, marking the believe that you too will make a similar effort by your sup-
placement of the cornerstone of the about- port of the Joint Palestine Appeal Campaign this year, an
to-be-completed building, on Linwood and effort which is vital for Jews throughout the world if they
Fleet Streets, was an important occasion for are to rise to the heights of their responsibilities.
all Detroit Jews. It signalized the determina-
Lion of music lovers to continue to enrich
"When our armies, for long anxious weeks, stood des-
the community's cultural program with its perately facing enemies superior in number and more
musical projects. Halevy deserves the en- highly equipped, never for a single moment did they lose
couragement of the entire community so faith. For this there were two reasons: first was the
that it may prosper in its new home.
knowledge that they had no choice—they must either
perish or win. Second was the knowledge that though we
here were few, behind us stood the entire Jewish people
throughout the world. Our soldiers fought not merely for
Member: American Association of English-Jewish News-
our own existence but for the, self-respect and dignity of
papers, Michigan Press Association.
Services: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Seven Arts Feature
every Jew in all lands."
Blow to Brotherhood
Halevy Music Center
,
THE JEWISH NEWS
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. 8
Page 4
May 13, 1949
The celebration on Sunday will, because of its historic
importance, place emphasis on these views, It should
strengthen our partnerShip with Israel and offer greater as-
surance for success to the Jewish State. -
Sunday's gathering must be turned into an impressive
demonstration, comparable to the great event, a year ago,
Sabbath Scriptural Selections -
This Sabbath, the fifteen day of lyar, 5709, when we rejoiced over Israel's Declaration of Independence
the following Scriptural selections will be react and re-establishment of statehood. We urge all Detroit Jews
in our' syna0ogues:'
Pentateuchal portion—Lev. 21:1-24:23.
Prophetical portion—Ezek. 44:15-31.
to be present at the gathering at the State Fair Coliseum on
Sunday, at 2:15 p.m., as a mark of self-respect and as a sym-
bol of our interest in Israel's triumphs.
Compilation of Scholar's
Writings and Addresses
East and West Library (114 E. 32nd St., New
York 16) has rendered a great service to the
Jewish communities in English-speaking coun-
tries with the publication of Solomon Schechter's
Selected Writings, edited by Norman Bent-
wich, one of the outstanding authorities on
Schechter and his creative works.
In a biographical sketch of the great scholar
who, at the time of his death, was president
of the Jewish Theologi-
cal Seminary, Dr. Bent-
wich pays this tribute
to Prof. Schechter:
"While the first half of
the 19th century pro-
duced a galaxy of Jews
who made a signal con-
tribution to the life and
thought of Europe, the
second part of the cen-
tury produced a galaxy
of Jewish thinkers and
men of action who de-
voted their genius to
regeneration of their Prof. Schechter
own people. By the side of Heine, Disraeli, Cre-
mieux, Ricardo and Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, we
may set Solomon Schechter, Theodor Herzl, Ash-
er Ginsberg (known as Ahad-Haam), Henrietta
Szold and Israel Zangvvill."
The brilliant sketch of Schechter at once
sets the pace for excellent judgment in the se-
lection of the writings of the eminent scholar.
He was the great prophet of the Conservative
Jewish movement. Although he wrote to Zang-
will that "one may be a Zionist without wear-
ing the label," he was a staunch believer in the
movement for Jewish national redemption. He
was "the inspired messenger of a living faith
calling to an old-new loyalty."
His interpretations of the dogmas of Judaism
remain among the most superb Jewish expres-
sions. His studies of the Bible and the Talmud
continue to enrich Jewish scholarship. The
Bentwich-edited volume contains Schechter's
"Studies in Judaism," dealing with his views- on
"Catholic Israel," dogmas, theology, philanthro-
py, etc.; "Historical Studies," including- essays
on the Cairo Geniza which he had discovered,
Hassidism, Nachmanides, Jews in Safed and
Rome; "American Addresses," in which he in-
terpreted his views on Zionism, Hebrew, anti-
Semitism, the American Jewish Seminary; and
Travel Letters—Parma and Jerusalem.
The Zionist Idea': Splendid
Evaluation of Nationalism
"The Zionist Idea" by Dr. Joseph Heller, ori-
ginally published in London and re-edited in
cooperation with. Carl Alpert for American read-
ers, is more • than a mere re-evaluation of
Zionism. This splendid • book, published by
Schocken, is a study of nationalism, the Jewish
interpretation of the national idea and a review
of the conflict over Zionism in socialist ranks.
Excellently written, this concise volume of 246
pages (including bibliography and index) covers
all aspects of the Zionist idea, discusses the
religious, labor, spiritual and Revisionist ap-
proaches, and gives an illuminating explanation
of the conflict with the Arabs.
The reader will) especially be intrigued by the
historical resume of Zionist conflicts with the
Yiddishist nationalist groups which were led
by Dubnow and Zhitlovsky. The able outline
presented by Dr. Heller causes his volume to
become a sort of history of Jewish cultural
movements of the past 50 years.
Brought up to date and covering the events
which led to the establishment of the Jewish
State, "The Zionist Idea" becomes valuable for
general reading, as a guide to organizations and
also as a textbook.
Facts You Should Know .
Why do mourners wear. black? (Submitted
by E. K., Brooklyn, N. Y.)..
There seems to be some dispute as to whether
Jews shOuld adhere to this custom. Some claim
that it is not a Jewish custom and was copied
from foreign sects. The • wearing of special
mourning clothes is mentioned in the Bible in
the Book of Samuel. The Midrash is quoted as •
saying that Moses asked his survivor, Joshua, to
put on black clothes. The Talmud speaks of a ,
man who wore special black shOes in mourning
the destruction of Jerusalent
In ancient days the wearing of black was
quite exceptional. Even though many insist upon
wearing black, it remains nothing more than a
custom and is hardly enforced among even the
most observant Jews. The original custom may
have originated from the notion that black is
not really a color at all but an indication of the.
absence of light 4m: any color whatsoeVer. The.
exit of the soul from the hunlan* body is often,.
likened to putting Out a light in a family.
;1/4
What is a Shadchen?
A "Stiadchen" nowadays is a .professional.
matchmaker. It is an old Aramic term for *a.
"negotiator," especially one who negotiates mar-
riages. Matchmaking originated from the very
first son of a Jew, Isaac, whose marriage was
arranged by his father Abraham's faithful serv-
ant Eliezer. As much as some frown upon this
office, many marriages today, among irreligious
as well as religious persons; are still arranged
by matchmakers.