Two important Israel Anniversaries
Hebrew University-25 Years
Traditions of Learning
Exemplified by University
By DR. ISRAEL WECHSLER
For 25 years Judah L. • Magnes, of blessed memory, car-
ried the burdens of the Hebrew University. It grew slowly
by stages and, under the circumstances, . the growth was
heartening, encouraging and, indeed, very much worthwhile.
Now that task vests in the skilled hands of Prof. Selig
Brodetsky.
Within- a short_ span of years the University has made
enormous progress. In the life of universities 25 years are
but a moment, a very brief period of time. The University of
Oxford is 800 years old, the University of Paris 900 years
old.
The reason a university grows
slowly is because in addition to
staffs, buildings, campus and
everything else, it must build a
sound tradition; and traditions
are not built overnight. How-
ever, in this regard the Hebrew
University is very rich. It has
a very old tradition, going back
more than two millenia. Even
before the days of Yavneh there
was a tradition of learning. We
all know how during the pere-
grinations of the Jews there
were academies in Sura, in
Pumbeditha, in Egypt, Spain,
France and Germany. And then
there were great centers of He-
brew and Jewish learning in the
East, in Russia, in Poland and
other eastern countries.
great chapter in letters of gold.
But Israel has written* an even
more glorious chapter in letters
of blood. We cannot equate let-
ters of gold with letters of
blood.
The University had 1,000 stu-
dents, and all of them—except
those who were physically un-
able to do so—joined the Army.
Of these 1,000 students, 100 fell.
One hundred young men and
women fell, thalt is 10 percent.
The ratio is the highest one of
all armies.
We hope that the University
will be a beacon to the whole
No State Worship
Jerusalem Problem
People are naturally worried
about Jerusalem. They ask,
what will happen to the Uni-
versity in Jerusalem? ' Political,•
economic, military, and other
factors have made the develop-
ment of the University more
difficult.
There will be other great cities
in Israel outside Jerusalem.
There is Haifa, and Tel Aviv,
and Jaffa, and Petach Tikvah.
and Rehovoth. But there will
always be Jerusalem. It doesn't
matter in what part of the city
the University will be. It will
always be in Jerusalem.
In many ways Jewish history
differs from other histories. The
history of other peoples is also
a history of the soil, of coun-
tries, of nations. The history of
the Jewish people is a history in
time—not of place, but in time.
Perhaps the answer to the ques-
tion why Jews have survived is
that their history extends in
time. It is a history of a faith,
of an ideal, which transcends
places. The Hebrew University
is a new milestone on the road
of Jewish history.
I was in Israel last May. It
was a great emotional experi-
ence which is hardly capable of
being translated into words.
Medical School Opens
I was in Jerusalem at the
opening of the Medical School
of the Hebrew University.
Thanks to the zeal, the devo-
tion and the generosity of Ha-
dassah, the University was able
to open up the medical school
last spring. It was a great joy
to witness the inauguration of
the first Hebrew medical school
in history.
I know how generous the
American Jews have been to-
ward the people and the land
of Israel. They have written a
is the need of great universities
in democracies. We all know
what has happened to universi-
ties where freedom of thought
was suppressed. To the eternal
honor of our country, America
has a number of universities, a
number of institutions of high-
er learning where that freedom
is maintained. It is our sincer-
est, hope that the Hebrew Uni-
versity will embody such free-
dom.
The wheels of the world are
almost entirely run by science.
Now, science is extremely im-
portant; indeed it is essential to
our very existence. But science
is good if we are its masters, not
its slaves. The world is being
enslaved, not by science, but by
men who make evil use of sci-
ence. Science without ethics and
morality is bringing, the world.
to the brink of destruction. And
it behooves universities to stand
guard and to see to it that eth-
ics and morality master the ap-
plication of science.
We are passing through an era
when liberals are despised, when
democracy is 'mocked, when in-
dependent thinking is regarded
as a grave danger. There is
regimentatiOn of thinking; the
world is - being _made. safe for
mediocrity.
It is encumbent on free Uni-
versities to stand sentinel and
see to it that the evil tides
sweeping over the world do not
engulf them.
DR. ISRAEL WECHSLER
Near East. It is our great hope,
our very great hope, that the
University will serve not only
the Jews 'of Israel, - but the
Christians and the Arabs, be a
guide to neighboring lands, and
maintain friendly relations with
all the universities in the Near
East. The doors are wide open
for 'the reception of students and
teachers other than Jews.
But an even more important
function for the University is to
serve the whole Jewish people
and be a link between Israel
and Jews of other lands. As the
State of Israel develops, politi-
cal activity outside of Israel will
gradually become less important.
We hope that Israel will become
as independent as possible and
manage its own destiny.
But there must be a great cul-
tural link between Israel and
the Diaspora. This cultural.,link
can best be served through the
University, and it is our hope
that there will be a two-way
street between America and Is-
rael so that the University can
give to us its spiritual inspira-
tion and we can give whatever
support we can bring to it.
There is a tendency, too, to
set up the states as idols. The
Jew has never worshipped idols.
We see idols with feet of clay,
with hearts of iron and with
heads of stone. We cannot wor-
ship idols of any kind. We have
not even worshipped idols of
gold. We broke a golden calf
long ago, and we are not going,
at this date, to worship the idol
of the State.
The Hebrew University has
many departments. It has a
number of faculties: Humani-
ties, Medicine, Law. It will soon
have faCulties of Education and
Agriculture. It has departments
of Languages under the Hu-
manities, Hebrew, of course, and
Oriental Studies. The sciences,
too, are being fostered there.
`Jewish Thinking'
Now, there is nothing Jewish
about sciences. There is nothing
Jewish about mathematics or
about chemistry or abbut ana-
tomy. Only evil and Nazi minds
could speak of the difference be-
tween a Jewish brain and a
Jewish heart, and an Aryan
brain or an Aryan heart. But
there is such a thing as a Jew-
ish way of thinking and of feel-
ing. It is that which we hope
to enshrine in the University.
There is another evil in this
world today, where philosophies
are constructed out of stupidi-
ties, where principles are fash-
ioned out of falsehoods, where
the dignity of the individual is
destroyed, where fetishism is
made of things outside the spir-
it. There is a great need in
the world for economic justice,
but there is even greater need
for social justice. We hope that
the Hebrew University will be
in the future, as it is now, not
only a house of learning, but a
Universities' in Democracies
house of liberalism and a house
Most important of all, I think, of democracy.
Next Year in Jerusalem
This father and his two
children,' aged three and four
years, have come a long way
—from Tunis to Marseilles—
for the Joint Distribution Corn-
mittee to transport them to
Israel. They will spend this
Passover in one of the JDC-
tupported transient camps in
Marseilles waiting for the ship
.
that will bring them to the
Holy Land. They. like 130,000
other Jews in all sections of
Europe, North Africa and the
Near East, will say the Pass-
over prayer with special fervor
—"Next Year in Jerusalem."
Histadrut-30 Years
Labor Federation Builds
Bridge to New Way of Life
By MILTON BROWN
(Copyright, 1950, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
TEL AVIV—This year marks the 30th anniversary of
Histadrut, the General Federation of Labor in Israel, which
is at one and the same time a trade union, an employer, a
cooperative movement, and a colonizer.
The membership of Histadrut has risen from 4,400 at
its inception to 250,000 members. Including their families, the
members of Histadrut represent half a million, people or near-
ly 50 percent of the total population of -Israel.
The basis of the Histadrut was in the Union of Agricul-
tural Workers which had been founded nine years before the
General Federation. These were 0
the first pioneers, and the his- drut are being expanded and in-
torical force which spelled the creased toward this end.
revival of the land and the re-
,* *
turn of the Jewish people to it
HAMASHBIR HAMERHAZI,
has been the touchstone of the the Wholesale Cooperative So-
Histadrut's own history.
ciety of Histadrut, which corn-
• • •
prises 536 consumers coopera-
HISTADRUT'S ACTIVITIES
of the past year, which are now tives in addition to the agricul-
collective settlements, has
'being reviewed, revolve around tural
ambitious
for increasing
its efforts to aid the Govern- services and plans
local production.
ment of Israel meet the many
The plans include the estab-
problems brought on by a huge lishment
of a sugar factory and
flow of new immigrants and a the opening
of a large bakery
high cost of living. Executives in Tel Aviv. A
biscuit and mac-
of the labor organization claim aroni factory is
also to be set
that Histadrut should be a up. Other industrial
branches to
bridge between the past and the be expanded' and developed
in-
future of the new immigrant, clude margarine production, tex-
"between his way of life in the tile and shoe manufacture, pro-
Diaspora and the life of labor duction of vital foodstuffs and
-and construction in Israel."
fodder.
From the first day a new
ithmigrint arrives in Israel he
becomes aware of the Hista-
drut. He is immediately in-
sured for three months by the
Histadrut's Sick Fund, at no
cost to him. In the camp he
will be treated by the Sick
Fund's doctors.
The Histadrut's Educational
Center has set up 72 schools
while the affiliated Women
Workers' Council has establish-
ed 80 kindergartens and nurse-
ries for the children of new im-
migrants. The Histadrut Cultu-
ral Section for the New Immi-
grant has opened 37 cultural
centers and arranged nearly 3,-
000 lectures and artistic per-
formances.
In addition Histadrut is pro-
viding vocational training for
new immigrants, directing them
to employment, and assisting
with the problems of housing
and the promotion of coopera-
tives.
• • •
IN THE ECONOMIC field,
Histadrut has been giving full
support to the Israel Govern-
ment's fight against inflation.
The labor organization's of-
ficials attribute the reduction
in. the cost-of-living index by
soiree 15 per cent since last
May to their willingness to
allow a proportionate readjust-
ment of total wages. The His-
tadrut's executive has also de-
cided to freeze wages for this
year.
While fighting inflation by
supporting the government's
measures to control and regu-
late prices, Histadrut is also par-
ticipating in an effort to lower
the cost of living by increased
production without at the same
time lowering the worker's
standard of living.
• •
IN THIS CONNECTION, the
Trade Uriion Department of the
Histadrut is now setting up pro-
duction committees in all in-
dustrial enterprises throughout
the country. These committees
made up of both workers and
management, will study and
advise on all matters affecting
processes of production, organ-
ization, and the distribution of
labor in the plants.
To improve production
methods, the Histadrut has
decided to send fifty workers
to other countries to study
methods of work, factory ad-
ministration and organization
in various trades.
The unprecedented growth of
the population and the estab-
lishment of new urban and
rural settlements has made the
rapid development of the coun-
try's resources imperative. The
economic projects of the Hista-
It Happened
On Passover
Quaint and unfamiliar sidelights
on Passover.
By RABBI PHILIP GOODMAN
Caucasian Jews observe the
Seder ceremony with a unique
custom. Several families assem-
ble together in the home of the
Chatham (Wise Man). In the
midst of the service, an impres-
sive dramatization is enacted ...
A knocking, made by one of the
young men masquerading as a
poor traveller from the Holy
Land, is heard at the door.
When no answer is forthcom-
ing, the young man calls arid
asks for permission to enter.
Following a lively conversation
in which the traveller gives evi-
dence of the fact that he is a
Jew, he is admitted into the
room. He brings hearty greet-
ings from the sages of Jerusa-
lem and assures the gathering
of the speedy redemption of all
Israel.
• •
At the conclusion of the Seder serv-
ice, each male Jew of Morocco places
a staff and pack over his shoulder and
rushes into the street shouting these
words of the Haggadah: "In this
manner our forefathers went out' of
Egypt, their kneading troughs bound
up in their clothes upon their
shoulders."
•
•
"Chad Gadya," the concluding
hymn of the Haggadah, written
in Aramaic, served to interest
children as it is written in the
same style-as the nursery rhyme,
"This' is the house that Jack
built."
• • •
More than 2,000 group seders
for Jewish personnel in the
American armed forces at home
and abroad were organized dur-
ing the four war-time Passovers
(1942-45) by the National Jew-
ish Welfare Board.
.• In 1949, four years after the
war, JWB made possible seders
at 149 domestic and 31 overseas
military installations.
*. *
In the days of the Talmud, it was
customary to make matzohs in differ-
ent artistic shapes and figures. These
forms were not approved by many
authorities as it necessitated allowing
the dough to - stand longer which
might cause fermentation. While the
original purpose of perforating mat-
zoh was to prevent it from rising. in
many instances the perforations were
utilized to form figures of animals
and flowers.
10
—
THE JEWISH NEWS
Friday, March 31, 1950