Week of Dedication Ceremonies
Is Planned for Dexter Center

2—THE JEWISH NEWS

Friday, December 16, 1949

Israel Composer
Is Halevy Guest

When the first neighborhood branch of the Jewish
Community Center is dedicated the week of Jan. 15-22, the
celebration will mark the initiation of a recreation program
planned especially to serve residents of the Dexter area who
cannot easily travel to the main building of the Center—
children, teen agers and old people. The new Center, at

Davison and Holmur, will also 4)
have adult classes.
era in Center service to the
Dedication ceremonies will be- Jewish community, as it spreads
gin the afternoon of Sunday, recreational facilities into a Jew-
Jan. 15, when the entire Jewish ish population area by means of
community is invited to attend a; building designed especially by
an open house and to tour the Albert Kahn Associates for Cen-
building. Other activities for the ter purposes.
week will feature a Jewish cul-
Some of the activities to be
tural evening, square dance for
conducted at the Davison-Hol-
teen-agers and rally for chil- mur
branch are crafts sessions
dren. The Dexter Mothers Clith for juniors
(children 6 to 13) in
will act as hostesses at a recep- the afternoon
and for teen-
tion for members of all Center agers and adults in
the evenings.
mothers' clubs.
Other
plans
outlined
include
Programs for the dedication
ceremonies are being arranged parents' activities; a Scouting
by the Committee on Dedication: program for cubs, intermediate
Samuel H. Rubiner, chairman, and seniors; Golden Age Clubs
Mrs. Sidney J. Allen, Mrs. Arthur for the aged; and a continua-
Bloom, Mrs. Hyman C. Broder, tion of the extension activities
Mrs. Samuel R. Glogower, Jacob for pupils of the United Hebrew
L. Keidan, Mrs. Royal Maas, Saul Schools.
Saulson and Rabbi Joshua Sper-
Construction of the building Is
ka.
under the direction of Harvey H.
Facilities in the neighborhood Goldman, assisted by Samuel
branch, now under construction, Hechtman and Paul Tilds, as
include an auditorium, seating well as Sol King and Saul Saul-
capacity, 350, dining capacity, son of Albert Kahn Associates.
200; kitchen; lounge, library;
Furnishings and interior dec-
checkroom; dark 'room;* seven oration of the building are be-
meeting rooms, and teen-age ing selected by the decorating
lounge. In the basement, the committee: Mrs. Samuel B. Dan-
building will have a large games to, chairman; Mrs. Arthur
room, television theater and Bloom, Mrs. Sylvia Chover, Cyril
crafts shop.
Aronsson Miles, Walter Herz, Sol
This branch marks a new King and Mrs. Saul Saulson.

Purely Commentary •

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

—

Facts for the Record
For the record, if not for the information of Jews
themselves who may be confused on the Jerusalem
Issue, some facts must be restated.
In a powerful statement to the UN, the Israel
spokesmen warned in advance that "100,000 embit-

—

••• ••

■—•

.

•..

. s

. • .

Eight Eras of Jewish History
By Dr. Noah E. Aronstam

Eight candles were burning and glowing and gleaming,
They smouldered low and they fluttered high;
They had all the semblance, they had all the seeming
Of flickering freedom—a gasp and a sigh.

The one that was kindled aforemost kept swaying,
In luminous rays to the right and the left;
It told of our ancestors' tortuous straying,
Through wildes and through deserts of verdure bereft.

The second loomed up in most singular brilliance,
And visions of peace filled our soul with a thrill;
It hailed the first kingdom of Judah's inception,
Of Judah • in splendor through Destiny's will. .

The third showed a dent and methought that grim shadov....
Were trying to hide its still lingering flame;
It soon broke in twain and it crumbled asunder;
Two kingdoms arose, each distinct in name.

The fourth burnt but faintly in hazy confusion,
It trembled an instant, it flared and was dead;
Its lustre was waning, its past a delusion,
To Babel as captives its children were led.

T. GOROCHOV

I. Gorochov, president of the
Composers Association of Israel,
- will be the guest of the Detroit
Halevy Music Society at a pro-
gram at 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec.
17, at the Halevy Center, Lin-
wood at Fleet.
A noted pianist, music inter-
preter and lecturer, Gorochov
spent many years in Palestine.
He is on a mission in this coun-
try to establish closer relations
between Israel music and the
music of the United States. He
will return to Israel next week.
Halevy will present a Hanu-
kah program, with members of
the society as soloists. Refresh-
ments will be served.

The fifth twinkled first in vague luminescence,
And like a bright star it burst forth in the night;
The call came from Cyrus, the Mede, to the remnant
Of Jacob and swarmed our hopes with a radiant light.

The sixth shone forth in such dazzling effulgence,
Our hearts throbbed triumphantly, tears filled our eyes;
We saw the most splendid achievements of valor:
Mattathias and Judah before us arise..

The seventh, alas! oh, what dire recollections—
A nightmare of tortures, of ages oppressed;
It utterly failed, and it faded and dwindled;
We gathered curses wherever we blessed.

The eighth, oh, the eighth! see a star is yon rising
To crown with success our yet unceasing toil!
The eighth is the pillar of our Restoration,
A light on the path to Israel, our soil.

Israel' s Position on Jerusalem

Jerusalem and or versus Rome
Jerusalem's issue before the United Nations Gen-
eral Assembly emphasized anew a regrettable conflict
between Rome and Jerusalem which could and should
have been avoided.
In spite of Israel's frantic efforts to placate Catho-
lic sentiment, the Vatican became a partner of the
Soviet and Arab blocs in the fight against the reten-
tion of the New (Jewish) City of Jerusalem as a
part of the state of Israel.
American Catholic bishops issued a statement ad-
vocating the internationalization of all Jerusalem and
its environs and Dr. Charles Malik, Lebanese UN dele-
gate, who incorporated it into his speech, termed it an
"authoritative interpretation of the two encyclicals
and the apostolic exhortation issued. by Pope Pius XII
on the Jerusalem problem."
John G. Rogers, New York Herald Tribune cor-
respondent at Lake Success,' in his report on the
result, of the vote of the Political Committee on the
Jerusalem question, wrote: "Twelve Latin-American
countries supported the Australian plan, generally on
grounds of Roman Catholic interest in the interna-
tional custodianship of religious shrines in the Je-
rusalem area." David Anderson of the New York
Times clarified such flimsy grounds, without referring
to the role played in the issue by the Catholic church,
in the following revealing facts:
"The head of one delegation supporting the in-
ternationalization plan, an outstanding figure at
this session, remarked privately later that if the
vote had been secret the Australian resolution
would certainly have been defeated. He said that
political and other pressures at home had influ-
enced a substantial number of delegates to vote
`yes' when at heart they felt 'no' would be better.
"The same source predicted that Jerusalem
would be back on the agenda of the Assembly in
1950. He regarded it as improbable that the Trustee-
ship Council could establish itself in the city, far
less adminster an international zone."
Even the sponsoring country—Australia—now is
exposed as having been influenced by her approach-
ing elections and by the demands of the Catholic ele-
ment in that country to go all out for a Jerusalem.
internationalization plan. (The sponsors lost the elec-
tion!) But the two strongest factors for that idea were
the Communist about-face against Israel—which was
motivated in the main by the Soviet opposition to
. British-sponsored Jordan—and the Catholic attitude.
The unrealistic approach of the Catholic church
is especially deplorable. Israel seeks the friendship
of all faiths and is not seeking a fight with any one.
But the Vatican deliberately pitched battle-tents
against the new Jewish state in an area so thorough-
ly Jewish that it is inconceivable that any one who
has fought for freedom in the New City of Jerusalem
ever will abandon his rights there.
In an address in London last week, British M. P.
Richard Crossman said it was "slightly ironic" that
suggestions should have been made "by bishops and
even archbishops" that Israel should entrust the fate
of Jerusalem to the UN and he pointed out that these
very clerics "did nothing when Jerusalem was shelled
by Arab guns . with British ammunition."

—

We Kindle These Lights

tered and disenfranchised people, stripped of their
political freedom and their vital defense, will be_
plunged into confusion, resentment and fear." Aubrey
Eban, speaking for Israel, stated:
"Their deeply cherished allegiance will be in-
evitably driven underground, while a new outside
authority strives in vain to divert to itself their
loyalty and obedience. With United Nations security
agreements set aside against the will of their sig-
natories; with today's stability overthrown without
the least assurance of its effective replacement, the
Holy City will become the scene of popular discon-
tent to the peril both of its religious and its secu-
lar peace."
Mr. Eban found it necessary to reply to three
charges: That Israel's opposition to the Australian
resolution wasn't frankly expressed when the infant
state sought admission to the UN, that Israel deviated
from the 1947 partition resolution and that Israel's
existing Jerusalem 'position resulted from conquest
without sanction.
To the first charge, he pointed out that the UN
was advised promptly that internationalization "had
faced the test and failed. It was in the light of this
experience, written deep upon their momories and
inscribed on 1500 graves that the Jews of Jerusalem
have irrevocably and unanimously revised their views _
on the capacity of internationalization to assure the
peace or development of the City . . The people of
Jerusalem have thus become convinced that separa:-
tion from Israel is tantamount to their encirclement
and eventual destruction, and that only in union with
their brethren in their independent State can they
secure their very preservation."
Israel's representative denied that the interna-
tionalization question was suppressed for tactical
reasons. He reminded the powerful UN body that
Israel argued against internationalization at the Paris
UN session and made this important declaration:
"To achieve membership in this Organization was
a task to which my government devoted much en-
ergy and zeal. Yet in no circumstances could we—
or can we—ever be prepared to purchase political
victories either at the sacrifice of integrity or at
the expense of our people, our institutions or our
freedoms in Jerusalem. If last May the choice had
been between acquiescence in the withdrawal of
Israel's authority from Jerusalem or the renuncia-
tion of the prospect of membership in the United
Nations, we should unhesitatingly, though with pro-
found regret, have taken the latter course."
Was there a, deviation from the partition resolu-
tion? Mr. Eban pointed to the consequences of non-
implementation by the UN and explained the strange-
ness of a situation which found his state criticized for
lack of fidelity to the resolution by member states
who took up arms against it and by those whose
votes and influence were never available during the
critical months when international action might have
secured peaceful implementation of the 1947 reso-
lution.
We wonder: is it being forgotten that Israel
was attacked by seven neighboring states, that
she was on her own in defense of life and property,
that aggression and defiance of human rights were
not counteracted by the UN? Who saved Jerusalem,
if not the meager Israeli forces? To quote Mr. Eban's
statement to the UN:
"When Arab forces marched upon it, the Holy
City was ravaged by such chaos and carnage, such
devastation and anarchy, such a falling apart of
all the amenities and decencies of civilized life, that

,

we should have to go back to the siege of Jerusalem
in the time of the Prophet Jeremiah to find the
Holy City in a comparable state of degradation and
disorder.
"Would the -advocates of juridicial legitimacy be
better pleased if the government of Israel had been
content regarding Jerusalem as the exclusive pre-
serve of the United Nations to undertake no ac-
tion, or intervention in its ordeal and thus let it
perish? Would this school of thought, which holds
no action in Jerusalem appropriate unless it ema-
nates from international will condemn the govern-
ment of Israel for the IL 170,000 which it has pro-
vided for the City's education, or for the two
million pounds loan which it covers through the of-
lion pounds loan which it covers through the of-
' ficial exercise of its governmental responsibilities?
Are these amongst the illegitimate acts of govern-
mental intervention which the Cuban amendment
would like to have rescinded and set aside by the
International Court of Justice?"
Mr. Eban found it necessary to point out that, had
Jerusalem waited passively for international action, it
would be a "graveyard and a shambles today ... It is
a higher and purer act of reverence to save Jerusalem
from death, and famine than to pronounce eloquent
speeches about Jerusalem's sanctity, while Jerusalem
falls into anarchy and chaos. The implication that
our young soldiers who met' their death in the Ju-
dean Hills by the hundreds in a herculean effort to
bring a few food convoys or a trickle of water to be=.
sieged Jerusalem were engaged upon-inappropriate
activities or aggression evokes nothing but resent-
ment in our hearts. The position of the Israel govern-
ment in Jerusalem today rests squarely upon the
foundations both of morality and of law. You cannot
regret the integration of Jerusalem into Israel unless
you regret the restoration of peace and order in Jeru-
salem. For it was this integration alone which ac-
companied and made passible the restoration of peace
and order in Jerusalem. When you hear it said that
Jerusalem must be withdrawn from the authority of
any single government, you would do well to reflect
that the only moment in modern times when Jerusa-
lem was in danger of destruction was the moment
when it was withdrawn from the authority of our
government."
Referring additionally to the Arab attempts to
revive the 1947 internationalization plan, • Mr. Eban
made the point that "the Arab states can break an
egg, but once broken it is beyond the capacity of
science and human. ing.enuinty to reconstruct it in all
its complex composition."
Those who have seen the New Jerusalem and have
witnessed the throbbing life of its Jewish community
can understand the impossibility of imposing inter-
national rule upon it. This Jewish portion of Jerusa-
lem, which was created by Jewish effort in the last 70
years, is an irremovable part •of the state of Israel..
Its institutions, its people, its traditions, its spirit are
irremovable parts of the Jewish state. To force • the
New Jerusaleni into the hands of an inexperienced
commission would be worse than injustice: it would
be immoral.
The Israel viewpoints are presented here for the
record in order to dispel the spread of untruths. The
UN decision on Jerusalem has harmed the position of
the international organization. There still is time to
correct the temporary wrong. We await action by the
1950 UN General Assembly to wipe out the unwise act
of last week.

'

' '