As the Editor Views the News .. . Important Encyclopedic Work Issued. by CYCO Community Cooperation THE JEWISH PEOPLE: PAST AND PRESENT. Volume H. An Encyclopedic Handbook in three volumes. Published by Jewish Encyclopedia Handbooks, Inc., Central Yiddish Culture Organization (CYCO), 67 Lexington Ave., New York 10. The construction of a new center for community activities on Davison Avenue, in cooperation with the Jewish War Veter- ans, the earlier joint effort for Center work on 12th Street, where the Center enlisted the assistance of the Council of Jewish Women, and the negotiations that are in progress for cooperation between the United Hebrew Schools and the Center are indica- tions of an earnest effort to-pool energies and resources for Detroit Jewish activities. In his annual report to the Center, as retiring president, Samuel H. Rubiner made these interesting comments: Will the American Jews be the recipients M spiritual and cultural values from the State of Israel as we were nursed before by the cultural leadership and creativity from European Jews who migrated to our shores? Do we have an indigenous American Jew- ish culture and'a series of patterns of Jewish group behavior that have the potentialities for the making of this American Jewish cul- ture? Will it come from our common religious background? Will it come from our sense of kinship with Jews the world over? Will it come from the extent to which American Jews identify themselves with Jewish life? Who will assume the major role in the de- velopment of this new Era? American Jewish youth firmly rooted 'in the soil of America and in the life of the Jewish people must be prepared for these responsibilities and for leadership. The Jewish Community Center does not profess to have the answer, nor the solution, but with its history of accomplishment, its community awareness and capacity , for in- telligent self-evaluation, the Center is in a position to make a notable contribution. The Synagogue, the Center, and the schools of Jewish education, as complements of each other, will together build the structure of the future. The Center has always had a keen in- • terest in building sound relationship with other community groups and it is encouraging to observe the meetings which are now tak- ing place all over America amongst these various community bodies. On the local level the Center joined hands with the National Council of Jewish Women in building the Twelfth Street Council Cen- ter. Our Dexter Branch will be built on land which was acquired from the Jewish War Veterans and the structure will house under one roof both our branch and the memorial home of the Jewish War Veterans. Had the nature of the building facilities and the char- acter of the City ordinances permitted, the-- Center would at least have housed a branch of the United Hebrew Schools in its Twelfth Street Council Center. In the meantime this type of relation has been launched in other Hebrew School build- ings in which the Center conducts and super- vises club activities for the Hebrew School children, By enhancing Jewish and general com- munity life, by enriching Jewish group living and by stimulating Jewish cultural activity the Jewish Community Center is making it possible to achieve a finer American Jewish life. The years immediately ahead are years of opportunity and I have every confidence that the Jewish Community Center with its enlightened leadership and community sup- port will successfully meet the challenge of the new _era in American Jewish life. The views uttered by Mr. Rubiner have been put into action. This is the best proof of the sincerity of intentions on the part of those who are planning tc prepare proper facilities' for youth work in Detroit. These efforts deserve the wholehearted support of all of us. While financial assistance is given through the Community' Chest and Allied Jewish Campaign, there are more important means of participation in the center's work —through memberships and by means of personal interest on the part of parents who should themselves join in Center work in addition to encouraging their children to become ,active in the various Center-spon- sored activities. THE JEWISH NEWS Member : American Association of English-Jewish News- papers, Michigan Press Association. Services: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Seven Arts Feature 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., wider Act of March 3, 1879. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor SIDNEY SHMARAK, Advertising Manager VOL. XV--=No. 16 Page 4 July 1, 1949 Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the fifth day of Tammuz, 5709, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion—Num. 16:1-18:32. Prophetical portion-1 Sam. 11:14-12:22. Like its predecessor, this encyclopedic vol- ume is marked by an earnest effort to present to the reader the .results of studies of Jewish cultural, colonization, population, political, re- ligious and ethical movements. It is a most im- pressive volume which leaves the reader with a sense of gratitude for the thoroughness with which the prominent authors have covered their respective fields. Population trends, colonization movements, the status of education, Palestine and the his- tory of Zionism, the Jewish labor and Socialist movements are covered in this volume- In every instance authorities in their fields have written on these subjects. Jewish population t r ends in Europe, the United States, Canada and Palestine are reviewed in the first 50 pages of the book. Another 50 pages are utilized for discussions of coloniza- tion movements in Russia, Palestine, the United • States, Canada, • Argentina and the Dominican Republic. More than a fourth of the book-100 pages— is devoted to evaluations of educational and cultural tendencies in this country, in Eastern Europe, in Latin America, in Ragland and Pales- tine. All aspects of education are covered—in- cluding the Yiddish and Hebrew schools, the Yeshivot and the secular. school movement, and Israel faces new challenges and untold difficulties. Aside special consideration is given to_a discussion of from the trying situation created in the Jewish state by the traditional education. israers New Difficulties„ large influx of immigrants and the pressure that comes from the building of a new economy in a new state, the new politi- cal crisis is responsible for anxieties reminiscent of the days when Israelis were fighting for their freedom. At Lausanne, in Tel Aviv, London and Washington, new stumblinc, blocks were erected to antagonize Israel. It is apparent b that unfriendly elements were in charge of affairs of state involving the Jewish state. The Israeli spokesmen, however, have held their ground, and the situation does not appear as uncertain now as it did two weeks ago. The ever-grinding rumor mill produced many unfortun- ate reports involving the status of Arab refugees, the Vati- can, Jerusalem and Israel's relations with the Arabs. Subse- quent statements prove, however, that many of these rumors are figments of the imagination and that the desire of Jewish leaders to negotiate peace and to make concessions in the interests of amity is more real than appears on the surface. For instance, a report from London that the Israeli government is planning unilateral action to. create a free zone in the Haifa port for use by the Jordan Kingdom points to a new move for Arab-Jewish cooperation. Also, the repeated assertions in Tel Aviv that Israel will welcome the return of a large number of Arabs and that relatives— women and children—of Arabs now in Israel will be admit- ted to the Jewish state, are definite indications of a desire by Israelis to be fair and to help speed peace in the Middle East. Unfortunately, there are obstructionists whose interfer- ence has been harmful to peace. While the attitude of the former United States representative on the United Nations Conciliation Commission, Mark Ethridge, has been felt as hard, it is possible that his toughness stemmed from un- friendliness, if the sentiments of his wife are to be taken as an indication of their joint viewpoints. Mrs. Ethridge, upon her arrival in NEtw York after a three month stay in Israel and at Lausanne, made some rather disparaging statements about the Jewish state. She expressed the view that Israel's admission to the UN before the return of Arab refugees and the internationalization of Jerusalem was "very unfortun- ate," charged that Jews refused to take back a single Arab, made the rather ungenerous remark that while Israel provid- ed a haven for 250,000 European Jews she created a much more serious problem of displaced Arabs and went so far as to say that 910,000 Arabs either fled or were forced to leave Israel and are living in "the most squalid and horrible con- ditions" in the Jordan Valley. These are the type of gratuitous remarks which arouse prejudices and create doubts in the minds of interested parties in this issue. While Mrs. Ethridge, when reached by telephone in Louisville, Ky., a day after she made these harsh remarks in New York, softened her speech and instead pleaded with Israel "to be generous in its peace terms" to the conquered Arabs, her original remarks are on record and are sufficient to 'condemn her as biased and as arousing un- friendliness. It is unfortunate that such a casual observer should have gone off half-cocked with a view regarding Israel's admission to the UN—at a time when the entrance of the Jewish state was propagated by the overwhelming number of nations who expressed the conviction that peace can come only when one of the interested parties in the Mid- dle Eastern struggle is able to meet the issues freely and 'On equal ground with her adversaries. It is even more un- fortunate that the number of Arab refugees should be magnified. When the issue first arose, after the Arabs had fled from Jewish territory, in spite of requests from their Jewish neighbors to remain and to build the Jewish state jointly with their Jewish cousins, the number of Arab refugees was estimated at anywhere from 300,000 to 400,000. Now, Mrs. Ethridge, following the line pursued by Israels enemies, boosts the number of refugees to 910,000 ! The trick—of trying to embarrass andantagonize Israel—is apparent ! Fortunately, Israel's spokesmen are not frightened. They are firm in pursuing a path of justice—as is indicated in the affirmations of faith in the future, in the willingness to take back Arab refugees and in territorial readjustments. There is no other way for the Jewish state than to carry on the struggle, and Israel must succeed on the political as well as the economic fronts: . The Jewish Socialist movement in Russia and Poland is outlined by two authorities: Abraham Menes covers the years of 1870-1897 and Raphael' R. Abramovitch deals with the years 1897-1919. J. C. Rich is the author of the' essay on the U. S. Jewish labor move- ment. Seventy pages are devoted to "Dates and Documents Relating to the History of Zionism" The Manifesto of the Bilu, the pioneers of modern Zionism, is one of the significant dec- larations reprinted in this volume. Included in this section of this scholarly work are the Bal- four Declaration, the UN 1947 Resolution, the Declaration of Independence in Hebrew and English, and other important documents. Jewish law and morals and currents in Jewish social life and an article on the U. S. Jewish communal organization are among the other features in this volume. It is a great4 undertaking and the completion of "The Jewish People: Past. and Present" in its full three volumes will constitute a great con- tribution to Jewish culture in this country. Reform Judaism Viewed in Three New Volumes A LIVING FAITH: Selected Sermons and Addresses from the Literary Remains of Dr. Kaufmann Kohler. Edited by Samuel S. Cohon. Published by Hebrew Union College Press. Cincinnati. JUDAISM: A WAY OF LIFE: By Rabbi Samuel S. Cohon. Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Cincinnati. REFORM JUDAISM: A Movement of • the People. By Rabbi Louis I. Egelson. Union of American Hebrew Con- gregations, Cincinnati. In these three works—the first two full- length books, the latter a 25-page mimeographed pamphlet—the reader will find a complete eval- uation of Reformed Judaism and an answer to every conceivable question regarding it. Rabbi Egelson's thesis is that "the layman began the movement," that he never groped in the dark about this trend in Jewish religious practices, that they brought about a revolution in Jewish religious practice. He reviewed the his- tory of Reform Judaism, describes the activities of several of its founders and answers a num- ber of pertinent questions regarding this re - • ligious movement. In his editor's introduction to Dr. Cohon's "Judaism," Emanuel Gamoran points out that this book will be especially helpful to Christian ministers and teachers who are in search of an account of modern Judaism. Dr. Cohon, who is professor of theology at Hebrew Union College, states that his book is the fruitage of years of teaching. His views, of course, are strictly in com- pliance with his Reform teachings. In his dis- cussion of the dietary laws, for example, he admits that "they exerted beneficial effects upon the health of the Jewish people," but asserted that "their hygienic value is but in- cidental." He continues to explain that the primary aim of the dietary laws "is to train the Jews in holiness . . . the ritual minutiae of shehitah and of lihe other laws of kashrut are thus conceived as serving the purpose of trying and purifying human character." He adds that "the religious needs of modern Jewry make at least part of the dietary laws necessary." Prof. Cohon deals most interestingly with numerous aspects of Jewish religious life, in- cluding social righteousness, Torah and charac- ter training, fasting, confession, repentance, etc. "A Living Faith" reprints 49 of the late Dr. Kohler's sermons and addresses. The scholar- ship for which. he was noted is reflected in each of the selections. The holidays, noted person- alities, Jewish ethics and traditions are dis- cussed in these splendid essays. The reader learns why he opposed Zionism (although he affirmed satisfaction in the return of Jews to agriculture). This noted man of learning will be better understood through the pages of this book.