'As the Editor
Views the News .
Is Land in Sight?
Good Story Ruined by
Repulsive Characters
Christian Anti-Israelis
In his exceedingly good book, "The Re-
alities of American Palestine Relations,"
Prof. Frank E. Manuel describes the de-
structive anti-Zionist role that was played
in Palestine by American Missionaries. His
indictment is corroborated in a statement
that has just been issued by the Rev. Dr.
Karl Baehr, who, together with ten other
prominent Christians made a study tour of
Israel. Dr. Baehr, who is the executive sec-
retary of the American Christian Palestine
Committee, declares that he and his group
Were deeply impressed by Israel's achieve-
ments and the determination of its people
to build a democratic society with freedom
and justice for Arabs and Jews alike, and
he asserts : "The most significant way to
counteract the voluminous reports that
come to the Federal Council of Churches of
Christ in America and to denominational
leaders from the many missionaries and ed-
ucators in the Arab areas of the Near East,
is to send Christians to Israel to see at first
hand what is developing there."
Norman Katkov was a stormy petrel when
his first novel ("Eagle at My Eyes") was pub-
lished more than a year ago. His second novel,
"A Little Sleep, a Little Slumber," also pub-
lished by Doubleday & Co., Inc. (14 W. 49th St.,
New York 20), may not arouse as much of a
storm but it certainly won't be accepted as a
great Jewish work, in spite of the author's bril-
liant writing.
Perhaps Katkov should be excused for his
choice of characters on the ground that he
could have substituted an Italian for the Jew,
or a Greek or a Peruvian, and it would have
suited his purpose.
As a story-teller, Katkov is superb. He tells
his tale well and the sequence of the life's ex-
perience of his hero, Lev Simon, interspersed
with the story of his wife, his four sons, his
brother-in-law and sister-in-law, • h old the
reader's attention like magic. Once you start
reading this novel, you've simply got to finish it.
Lev comes to this country illegally and until
one of his sons learns about it and ascertains
that the stay of illegally entered immigrants
was legalized in 1923 he lives in deadly fear of
being caught and sent back to Russia. As a re-
sult, his dishonest and immoral brother-in-law
Ben Baratz constantly demands and gets from
him large sums of money—until the showdown.
Then comes the great tribute to the man who
struggled to raise an American family—when
Lev is granted American citizenship-
The strong pro-Israel statement made
last week by Supreme Court Justice Wil-
liam 0. Douglas, in Haifa, adds weight to
the Christian tourists' viewpoint.
Dr. Baehr states that his group discover-
ed an overwhelmingly negative answer to
the question whether Israel is communistic,
that the treatment of Arabs by Israel is
good, that religious freedom prevails there.
Then comes the following expose of a de-
plorable situation involving Christians:
A tragic experience, which deserves special
mention, was our interview with James E. Sut-
ton, then acting head of the Jerusalem YMCA.
He was outspokenly hostile to Israel, frankly
stated that he hoped the "Y" could be included
in the Arab section of the City if the City is
to be permanently partitioned, firmly believed
that Israel should be required to take back
the Arab refugees even though the refugees
might successfully be resettled in Arab lands,
considered Zionism and British and American
support of Zionism a mistake. His position
was consistent with that held by A. L. Miller,
General Secretary of the Jerusalem "Y" who
just recently completed a visit to the United
States, where he spoke before innumerable
public—and private—gatherings. Wilbert T.
Smith, formerly of the Jerusalem "Y" and
now a member of the Institute for Arab-
American Affairs, and Paul Hoffman, also of
the Jerusalem "Y", have been outspoken pro-
Arab representatives in America.
It is important, I feel, for you to know this
so that you might be alert to the fact that
hostile forces might well operate through lo-
cal YMCA's. Efforts should be made to have
programs arranged in "Y's" that would be
fair to Israel. Of course it should not be as-
sumed that all local YMCA secretaries are
hostile. Many are neutral or don't know enough
to have reached an opinion. A few are mem-
1.̀.-3rs of the American Christian Palestine Corn-
xnittee.
The attitude of YMCA workers appar-
ently stems from the same source as the
antagonism of the missionaries. The hatred
which has caused spokesmen for a religious
group to fight Israel—before and after the
rise of the Jewish state—represents the
blackest mark on any non-Jewish group, not
excluding even the Moslems.
Dr. Baehr's proposal should be taken
seriously, it is evident that the job of edu-
cating the non-Jewish community has not
ended. While Christians admired the cour-
age of Jews during the battles in Israel, it
is necessary that they should now under-
stand the difficulties which Israelis face in
settling hundreds of thousands of newcom-
ers, in order that they may appreciate even
greater heroism in the process of state-
building. Serious responsibilities face all of
us, in the struggle to uphold the hands of
the builders of Israel.
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., under Act of March 3, 1879.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
SIDNEY SHMARAK, Advertising Manager
VOL. XV—No. 21
Page 4
August 5, 1949
Sabbath Nahamu Readings of the Torah
This Sabbath, the eleventh day of Ab, 5709,
she following Scriptural selections will be read
in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion—Dent. 3:23-7:11.
Prophetical portion—Is. 40.1-26.
Katkov's Ugly Men
Separation of Church and State
We retain the view we have expressed in these columns
that church and state should be separated, that our school
system should retain its secular character and that private
and parochial school systems should be kept outside the or-
bit of our educational system.
For these reasons, we are inclined to support the view
held by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Herbert Lehman, Ber-
nard Baruch, the leading New York newspapers and Rep.
Graham A. Barden of North Carolina that Federal assistance
to schools should be limited to public and not private in-
stitutions.
We would oppose deviation from such a principle as
strongly if yeshivoth and Jewish parochial schools were in-
volved as we are toward private and parochial schools of
other denominations.
While there is justice to the claim that the health of all
school children, regardless of _their attendance in public or
private or parochial schools, should be protected, there is
a deeper principle involved in differentiating between sup-
port of education in public and non-public schools. The root
of our dearest American ideals is threatened the moment
we resort to European practices of recognizing publicly the
existing private religious schools. It would be the first step
in breaking down the barrier between church and state and
making it possible for religion to influence state, and we
urge all conscientious Americans to battle against the danger
of church-state fusion, whether it is through the schools or
in any other fashion.
Israel's Handicaps, Jewry's Duties
Alvin Rosenfeld, writing for the New York Post from
Tel Aviv, points out that "foreign capital is coming only in
trickles" to Israel and presents the following interesting
facts :
"The -Ministry of Finance has estimated that it will require
$900,000,000 yearly to absorb immigration at its present fantastic
rate of 200,000 to 250,000 yearly. That is nine times the govern-
Ment's 'ordinary' income for 1949. 'Extraordinary' sources of
revenue will be far from sufficient. Two-thirds of whatever
funds will be. raised by the American Jewish Appeal's campaign
—which is lagging far behind its set goal—is earmarked for
Israel. A good part of the $100,000,000 Export-Import Bank loan
will go for immigrant absorption. The government will raise, by
mortgaging its own property, another $60,000,000 for the same
purpose. That still leaves a considerable deficit. No one knows
where the rest of the money will come from."
This is not idle talk. It is a campaign speech used to
secure additional dollars from contributors to American
funds intended for Israel. The Post correspondent presents
hard facts which,. if they are not digested realistically in
this country, will choke Israel's economy.
Mr. Rosenfeld reveals that the 20,000 immigrant dwell-
ings to be built in 1949 will house only half of the homeless
settlers. He states that "of the 250,000 who've entered the
country since mass immigration began, 120,000 are in aban-
doned Arab villages and another 60,000 in the camps."
These figures raise serious issues with respect to Ameri-
can Jewry's responsibilities. If the 250,000 had not been
settled in Israel, the Jews of this country would have to
provide funds in astronomical figures to care for the dis-
placed persons in European camps. Their settlement in Is-
rael does not absolve us of responsibility for their well-being
and their ultimate integration into Israel's economy.
While most of the UJA drives are over, with only a
few yet to be conducted in large cities, it is important that
the figures just quoted should be given serious consideration
for future planning. In the first place, pledges made in the
1949 drives must be paid immediately in order not to add
further handicaps to Israel's upbuilding. Secondly, Ameri-
can Jewish communities must plan to participate in the ex-
tension of loans to the Jewish state and in encouraging large-
scale investments which, alone, can supplement the meager
incomes that have been provided for the settlement of DPs.
It is a deeply moving story of family love,
of devotion of father for wife and children, of
his self-sacrifice and their return affections, of
his love for America and her institutions. In-
deed, as the author states in the story, anyone
following the experiences of the Simon family
will go home and shower love on his own kin—
such is the inspiration of this novel.
But because the characters are all Jewish,
the reader—this reviewer at least—will be left
with a nauseating feeling. There is nothing Jew-
ishly inspirational about the entire crew. Only
the mother Sarah evinces a sense of charity—
and the ridicule she gets for it—apparently re-
flecting the sentiments of the author—proves
our contention, when we reviewed his first novel,
that his abuse of Jewish feelings stems from
ignorance. Katkov knows such terms as Bar
Mitzvah, frumer, shikseh, yarmulke, kaddish,
and then his vocabulary is exhausted. But he
is a master in the use of filthy sex terms.
There is one incident that lends least credit
to the author and certainly does not elevate
the character of the hero—when Lev, finding a
Jewish beggar in his home eating on the porch
because he would not eat in a non-kosher home,
teaches the bearded Jew a lesson by pouring
milk on meat and by producing ham as his
own diet. It may sound like a pretty piece of
mischief, but it does not enhance the stature
of the Jew and it, does not lend particularly
good credit to Jews in the eyes of non-Jewish
readers.
Katkov undoubtedly will chalk up a good
circulation for his second novel, as he has for
the first. But if he desires to do it at the ex-
pense of moulding the filthiest types of Jews,
he may find his conscience plagueing him. It's
a pity that so able a writer can't dig up the
best among Jewish patriarchs, the noblest in
Jewish tradition, the finest in American Jewish
creative life, rather than the smile on a father's
lips while he reprimands his son for having
taken advantage of the tailor's virgin daughter.
(And—since when has Katkov become an au-
thority on the lowliness of a tailor's status?).
Katkov, because he lacks an elementary knowl-
edge of Jewish traditions, will never earn a
place of honor in Jewish ranks, even though
he • writes best sellers.
Facts You Should Know . .
Why does a bride wear white for the wedding
ceremony?
Originally the bridegroom was required to
wear white. One notices even today in an ultra-
religious ceremony that the bridegroom is also
dressed in a white gown (a "kittel"). There are
a number of reasons for this: the day of the
wedding is like the Day of Atonement for
bride and bridegroom. (It is customary to wear
white on the Day of Atonement). Like Yom
Kippur, that day takes away all their sins and
thus the white is a symbol of purity. Some say
it is an indication of the purity with which peo-
ple should enter into marriage. Others say it is
to resemble the shroud of the dead—reminding
the couple that earthly pleasures are but vain
and temporary while the finer things in life
that last forever—like true love—should be their
goal in married life.
*
Why is it customary to recall the memories
of parents who passed away when standing
under the wedding canopy?
A wedding day, because it forgives the sins
of bride and groom, is like the Day of Atonement.
On Yom Kippur it is customary to recite me-
morial prayers for the dead, and the wedding
day, being like the Day of Atonement, is also
a. time for such prayers. Furthermore, it is a
means of paying respect to the deceased parents.