As the Editor Views the News ... `That Is the Villain!' Rabbi Adler Urges Halt To Undignified Affairs Belated Expose In a description of the anti-Semitic riot which occurred on Peoria Street in Chicago last November, the current Anti-Defama- tion League Bulletin makes this comment: By RABBI MORRIS ADLER (From Shaarey Zedek Recorder) "The national revulsion that followed the Peekskill (N.Y.) incident was its most encouraging factor. By the same token the lack of national reaction to the Chi- cago riots is discouraging. These incidents are warning beacons to America. When they are ignored the democratic fabric is injured." When news of the Chicago riots first was published — then already belatedly — . there were denials of their authenticity and there were people who insisted that it was a minor _ anti-Negro riot. Now, in the expose in the ADL Bulletin and in an illuminating article, "Civil Rights on Peoria Street," by Mike Hecht, in the February issue of Frontier Magazine, the true facts in the horrible in- cidents which disgraced the city of Chicago have only begun to be emphasized. To the credit of the Sentinel, Chicago's English-Jewish weekly p e r i o d i c a 1, it should be stated that it presented the Peoria Street story in all its horrors. But its revelations were poo-pooed. Whose fault is. it that the "national re- action" was lacking? Was it the fault only of the newspapers of Chicago which failed to publiciie 1t properly? But there is another side to this charge: there is the 'Jewish side. Whose fault was it that the American Jewish community was kept in the dark about the Chicago happen- ings for which there is only one term: pogrom ! Is it possible that our national organizations, which are asking for huge sums for civic-protective work, failed to do their dutY? Gentlemen, gentlemen ! Don't start de- ploring a lack of "national reaction," but look to your .own laurels, lest there be repe- tition of the nasty occurrences and accom- panying injury to the democratic fabric. True Fraternity Pamphatria, the body representing 16 Greek letter houses on the campus of Co- lumbia University in New York, in a policy statement issued last week urged its mem- bers to work for the elimination by consti- tution means of membership restrictions based on race, creed or color. Two years ago, Columbia • University's Interfraternity Council, referring to the action of an Amherst College fraternity which pledged a Negro to membership, stated that "the occurrence of such restric- tion is entirely a matter of internal relations within a single fraternity." Pamphatria now has reversed its stand by stating that "re- strictions of this sort . . . should be removed as soon as possible through constitutional procedures provided in each organization." This, definitely, is a progressive step that should lead to complete abandonment of bias in fraternities and thenceforth in other university fields. Perhaps the trend also is towards the wiping out of percentage quotas practiced in the admission of Jews and Ne- groes in professional schools. At Rutgers University, the school's board of trustees took action a few days ago re- quiring campus fraternities with discrimina- tory provisions to "make bona fide efforts" to repeal them. Rutgers' board asserted that student organizations with restrictive clauses no longer will be admitted. Last year, the Dartmouth College Interfraternity Council led 12 northeastern schools in a move to end discrimination in fraternities. Indeed, we are on the road to progress. If our college students should continue to lead the way to true fraternity, perhaps we shall see the decline of bigotry in other fields—economic, social and cultural. 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. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co. 708-10 David Stott 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 RUTH L. CASSEL, City Editor Vol. NATI—No. 25 Page 4 March 3, 1950 . Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the fifteenth day of Adar, 5710, the following Scriptural selections will be ruid in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 27:20-30:10. Prophetical portion—Ezek. 43:10-27. Programs That Disgrace Us • .tr.mebt 11.1.741.111W.PWc AAMpa• --- (A He-4- PURIM THEME) Urgent Israel Problems Problems affecting the future of Israel again are rising to the fore and are demanding the attention of the Jews of this country. War threats in the Middle East have compelled Ameri- can Jewish leaders to make strong representations to the U. S. State Department on the score of arms shipments to Egypt and other Arab countries. Unfortunately, the pro- tests of the American Zionists have been rejected and it becomes necessary for the Jews of America and their non- Jewish friends to ask that, in the interest of fair play, there should at least be impartiality in the release of arms to Middle Eastern countries. If there are questions of security in the Middle East, it is only fair that the small state of Israel should be given an equal opportunity for self-defense; and if there are to be arms shipments, Israel, whose demo- cratic leanings are unquestioned, should receive her share in order that the sale of weapons to Egypt should not be out of balance in the troubled Mediterranean area. In behalf of the American Zionist Council delegation to the State Department, Mr. Louis Lipsky found it neces- sary to issue this statement after receiving a rebuff to his delegation's requests for an end to arms shipments to the Arabs. "We repeat that we regret the position taken by the State Department. We are convinced that American public opinion will not share the complacency of Mr. Acheson toward the re- arming of the Arab states. The danger we refer to is not far off; it is right around the corner. The state of Israel is now en- gaged in negotiating for peace agreements to take the place of the armistice arrangements with the Arab states. Sending them large quantities of arms at this time inevitably disturbs all talks of peace with them. It is like handing a revolver to a potential assailant, who has once been disarmed. "We solemnly declare that the approval of England's sending of new planes and heavy artillery and submarines to -any Arab state at this time is a direct encouragement of Arab aggression. We deplore that the state of Israel will have 'to use a larger part of its hard-pressed budget not for the restoration and rehabili- tation of the tens of thousands of new settlers, but for the mo- bilization and equipment of its armed forces." This statement indicates quite clearly that Israel's energies must be diverted from practical efforts to those of defense and the conditions of 1948 are repeating them- selves. While, on the one hand, the infant country is wel- coming large numbers of settlers and is providing for them on small budgets, the Israel government is compelled to think seriously of defense. Thus, the Jews of America, who are called upon to pro- vide the major funds for reconstruction and immigrant ab- sorption purposes, again are challenged at least to fulfill the obligations inherent in the serious task of liquidating those Jewish communities whose security lies only in Israel and whose people must leave their "homelands" which have been turned into infernos by their antagonists. How will American Jewry react to the increasing needs? The Jews of this country already have proven that they are politically-minded, that they know when and how to act in an emergency. A new crisis has arisen and our people must call upon our government's leaders to be fair on the arms shipment question. If it is a question of se- curity, then Israel—the only democracy in the Middle East— must not be tranformed into a whipping child to take all the punish.mbent while Egypt is being armed. Let Israel be given an equal opportunity for self-defense. Then there is the constantly recurring duty of pro- viding the means with which to assure Israel's ieconomic and social security. There has been too much talk of late about the difficulty of raising the necessary funds for the United Jewish Appeal. A determined effort should be made, from now on, to adopt an optimistic attitude through reso- lution not to permit failure in the coming drive. Unless we mean to be partners in Israel's hardships—which the Arabs would like to translate into destruction—we must lend the Jewish state all the support it needs in the immigrant ab- sorption program. The test is at hand—on the political front involving the attitude in Washington and our readiness to act in de- fense of the Israel frontiersmen—and on the home front, involving our duty to the UJA. We must make good on both scores. The greatest problem of most chairmen of organizations seems to be how to achieve what is usually described as a good "turn out." More thought is probably devoted by those who direct the affairs of clubs, lodges and societies to means by which a large audience might be at- tracted, than to any other matter. Successful meetings are those at which all seats are filled. This, it appears to me, is not only a fallacy but also a danger. The ouality and content of a program are entirely lost sight of, for the com- mittee is exclusively concerned with attendance. Dignity, Jewish values and good taste are thrown to the winds, as a hodge-podge of entertaining varieties is assembled aimed to catch the fancy of the hitherto absentee membership. Night clubs, burlesque houses and vaudeville theaters are imitated in the hope that their appeal to num- bers of people might be duplicated. "Cultural (?)'" programs are devoted to humorists, whose stories often reveal both Jewish self-hatred. and offen- sive vulgarity; to mesmerists, hypnotists, chorus girls, non-Jews who can sing Eili-Eili, acrobats and jugglers. Since it is assumed that people will come only for entertainment, we give them entertainment with a vengeance. What matters it, if every canon of dignity and propriety is vio- lated? "We get the crowd, don't we," says the program chairman when chided for the cheap- ness of the evening's program. That this is not the way is obvious. Not only will we succeed in driving intelligent and sensi- tive Jews out of organized Jewish life, but even those who now come will soon tire of the mo- notonous fare of vulgarity. Lt* organizations ask themselves whether they are not paying too high a price for the "crowd." What purpose is served by their attendance? How do these programs contribute to the purpose of the organization? The time has come to call a halt on "fashion- shows," "jazz-dances," "canasta-parties," "stag- affairs," "imitations of radio and television broadcasts," "minstrel shows" that are sponsored by Jewish groups and that parade as Jewish programs. Better no meetings at all, than some of the meetings I have recently seen anhounced. Let responsible Jews .stay away from programs that disgrace us, and inform those in charge of their indignation and protest.. Lewy Says Prophet Nathan Was Author of Pentateuch Immanuel Lewy's "The Birth of the Bible: A New Approach" (Bloch Publishing Co., New York) is an unusual book. The author, a descendant of Rabbi Mordecai Jaffee, a rabbinical codifier who traced his descent from Rashi, maintains in this work that the Prophet Nathan, who was Solomon's teacher and King David's political adviser, was the author of the basic document of the Pentateuch and of the Books of Samuel. In an introduction to this interesting book, Prof. Mordecai M. Kaplan states that "we can- not do without some kind of reconstruction of the past which will possess far more inner co- herence than those proposed hitherto"; that "the criterion in reconstructing the history of the Bible, the theories concerning the authorship of the text, and those concerning the vicissi- tudes of Israel's religion, will not only have to be mutually consistent but also mutually illu- minating"; and he adds that this book for the first time meets this condition. Therefore, Dr. Kaplan thanks Dr. Lewy on behalf of the Recon- structionist Foundation "for having given us the privilege of introducing to the public this tour- de-force of his on the Bible." The Prophet Nathan is portrayed as having possessed a strong love for Solomon. We are told by Dr. Lewy that "before Solomon was familiar with the difficulties of ruling in his days, he was still full of the teachings of his master. We know that the older he grew, the more he adapted himself to the conventional outlook of his time." Dr. Lewy maintains that: "Nathan did not want to have any priestly caste:as there was in Egypt, where they had the privilege of possess- ing private land property without. being subject to taxation (Gen. 47:22). He coined the phrase that the whole people should become a nation of priests (Ex. 19:6), which practically meant the non-existence of any privileged priest-caste." Hailed as a valuable contribution to Biblical criticism, Dr. Lewy's book may arouse consider- able controversy. In the meantime, as Dr. Kap- lan states in his introduction, it "should be of vital concern to every student of the Bible, whether Jewish or non-Jewish." Facts You Should Know . How many Jews remain • in Germany? The latest figures show that 46,000 Jews stHi are in Germany. Of this number, 4,000 are "hard- core" cases. Of the rest., it is believed that about 20,000 are potential immigrants to Israel.