2

Attorneys Meet for AJC

—

THE JEWISH NEWS

Friday, June 2, 1950

Myerson, Schwartz
Will Address UJA
Parley June 10-11

Golda Myerson, Minister of
Labor in the Government of Is-
rael, and world-famous Jewish
woman leader, will be the guest
of honor at the National Report
Conference of the United Jew-
ish Appeal, to be held at Palmer
House, Chicago.
Jewish leaders from communi-
ties in all parts of the country
will report on the progress of
campaigns in • support of the
United Jewish Appeal's program
of immigration, settlement and
rehabilitation in Israel and
other lands. The conference will
open with a dinner at 6:30 p.m.
on Saturday, June 10, and will
continue all day Sunday, June
At an Attorneys Section Allied Jewish Campaign meeting 11.
A principal speaker, in addi-
(left to right) JUDGE THEODORE LEVIN, HAROLD M. SHA-
PERO and MARK H. BIRNKRANT discuss the 1950 cam- tion to Mrs. Myerson, will be Dr.
Joseph J. Schwartz, director of
paign's progress.
the Joint Distribution Commit-
te'e, who will report on the latest
developments in the vast pro-
gram of Israel-bound immigra-
tion from Eastern Europe and
Moslem. lands which is being
conducted by the Joint Distribu-
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
tion Committee in -cooperation
with the Jewish Agency for
Intermarriage—Its Growth and Danger
Palestine.
Is intermarriage growing at a fast enough pace to endanger
the .position of American Jewry?

Purely Commentary

•

Rabbis who are in position to know express grave concern
over existing conditions. They are worried about the future and
they warn our communities to be on guard against further break-
down of Jewish ties.

Only 14 years ago, however, a noted Jewish philosopher—Prof.
Morris Raphael Cohen—discounted fears over inroads made by
intermarriage in Jewish ranks. In an address on "Proposed Roads
for American Jewry" before the National Council of Jewish Worn-
en, in 1936, Prof. Cohen expressed the view that "it takes a long
time for a people who have lived together as a group with com-
mon tradition and common suffering to dissolve such ",ies, especial-
ly, when others are not willing to absorb them."
The late Dr. Cohen's essay has been incorporated into an in-
teresting book—"Reflections of a Wondering Jew," published by
Beacon Press, Boston. Here are some of Prof. Cohen's striking
opinions as he expressed them at that time:

"Take my own poor self as a dreadful illustration. I have
no affiliation with any religious group, nor am I a nationalist.
When a Jewish young man or young woman finds a fitting life-
partner among Gentiles, I don't see that anyone has any right
to protest. I do not even believe that everyone who adopts
Christianity is insincere or dishonest.. Nevertheless, a majority of
my friends or intimate associates are Jews. Nearly all of them,
- like my children and myself, have married within the Jewish
fold—not because of conviction, but because. of natural associa,
tion and attraction. This makes - intermarriage exceptional.
"What is the largest proportion of intermarriage that has .
ever actually taken place in any country that we know? In
Germany, at the height of the liberal wave, it was only about 14
per cent. Recently I read some figures—I do not know how reli-
able they are—that in Czechoslovakia 20 per cent of Jews marry
non-Jews. At that rate, not allowing for any natural increase,
and ignoring the fact that some children of intermarriage
naturally revert to the' Jewish fold, it would take 80 generations
before the Jews of this country would totally disappear. Count-
ing between 25 and 30 years for a generation, this means be-
tween 2,000 and 2,400 years."
Let it be understood that Prof. Cohen wrote as a non-Zionist

(he was at one time an anti-Zionist) and that he had no Jewish
affiliations until he final Years of his life when he became the-
editor of the highly scholarly Jewish Social Studies. We wonder—
being in that mood after reading the philosophic views of a won-
dering Jew, what he would say today about some of the issues
which were unpredictable in his day. The man. who disbelieved
in a redeemed Zion might have seen new situations in a new
light in our own time. •
For instance: We were shocked to learn that in one of the
better known Jewish communities in Michigan, nearly 60 per cent
of the Jewish families already have one or more intermarriages ,.
How long can a community survive at that rate? -
We learn that in a community in Indiana, not far from Chi-
cago, intermarriage is far above the 20 per cent quoted by Dr.
Cohen.
We are not registering panic, but are merely giving credence
to the concern of our rabbis whose fears are more realistic than
the observation of a non-Zionist, non-affiliated Jew, who admit,
tedly did not care about the whole matter.
"Reflections of a Wondering Jew" is a good book. It makes
interesting reading. But a lot of the material loses its value be-
cause of the changed - conditions. ' The point we have jUst made
on the issue.. of intermarriage is one of • the changing cOnditionS
which reduce the value of the views of the eminent philOsopheir:
His attitude on ZioniSm certainly 'does not keeP him in the ranks

Zuckerman Holds
World Zionism Has
No Single Leader

BOSTON—Because "the per-
son who would be acceptable to
the Jewish world as the syrribol
of world Zionism has not yet
emerged," Baruch ZUckerman,
president of the Labor Zionist
Organization of America, sug-
gested that the World Zionist
Congress: should. not i n :c lude
election of a president on its
December session agenda.
ZuCkermari's statement was
*made in .1u.s
. 'address. to the 27th

n.a I convention ,. of -the

. He said,:trat - the world
LZOA
ponist, executive w6tild.haVe.
continue to function :out `af two
world Jewish centers, jernsalem
and New York.
He also called for establish-
inept of .a "United . Zionist Or-
ganization," . with which Jews
who did not wish to belong to
a Zionist party might become

-affiliated.

President Truman, in a spe-
cial message to the convention,
declared that the devotion to
the cause of Israel by American
working men and women of
Jewish faith was an expression
of their interest in the democ-
ratic way of life.

Bnai Brith Business
Group Climeaes Year

Bnai Brith Business and Pro-
fessional- 'chapter will climax
the season Sunday, June 11, in
the air-conditioned Woodward
Room of the Detroiter Hotel.
.iOfficers and board members
will be installed in a ceremony
beginning at 6 p.m. At 9 p.m.
the installation dance will be
held.
FUrther details may be ob-
tained from Marion Bassey,
stallation chairman, TY. 5.-

9589.

Examiners Death Wins
Richards New Hearing

WASHINGTON — (JTA)
The. Federal. Communications
announced that it 'has grant- .
ed. the request. of G. A. Rich-
of prophets with vision. . •
ards, owner of three, radio
But there are other sections of his book which have lasting
stations, for a new hearing
Merit. One of them deals with the problem of the irnimerns
on charges that he ordered
clausus and the percentage norm that, is being enforced in uni- 'anti
- Semitism - injected in_
versities and in industry against Jews. On this point, the late . Prof. newscasts over station RIVIPC,
Cohen's judgment is so effective that it deserves special treament `Los Angeles.
—and will receive it in this column next week. „
The hearing examiner re-
Just a word about the publishers--Beacon Press. Its editers and - cently died and on this basis
its promotion manager, Edivard Darling, have earned the: grati-
Riehards demanded a new
tude of liberal Athericans for publishing volumes not only like
hearing. The FCC is seeking
Prof. Cohen's but especially works that deal with our liber- . to deternaine whether or not
ties: Conrad Moehlman's forthcoming "The Wall .of Separation to >permit Richards to hold
Between Church and State," Prof. Butts' "The American Tradi; his licenses to operate radio
stations. He also owns WJR,
tion in Religion and Education" (already reviewed in. this col-.
umn), and others which seek defense for the basic American, .Detroit, and WGAR, Cleve-
land.
ideals.

-

"

Israel Welcomes Arms Program,
Reiterates Desire for Peace

—International Soundphoto
President Truman is shown here making his announcement
of the major agreement reached between the United States, Brit-
ain and France' with regard to supplying arms to Israel and the
Arab states.
The text of the agreement was presented in Washington to
Israel's Ambassador Eliallu Elath. President Truman, in his
statement, asserted that it is the belief of the U. S. Government
"that the declaration will stimulate, in the Arab countries and
Israel, increased confidence in fiiture security, thus accelerating the.
progress now being made in the near East and contributing to- .
ward the well-being of the peoples there."
Congressional leaders were consulted before the three power
decision was made public. Sources close to the State Depart.,.
ment's Munitions Export Control Section stated that Israel has
submitted a list of arms she wishes to• buy and that the list, with
some exceptions, has been approved.
-A report from Tel Aviv quotes an Israel spokesinan as stating
that his government is satisfied with the joint declaration- on
arms and that Israel reasserts its desire for an early peace settle .= •
went with the Arabs.
Egypt, meanwhile, is reported to' have applied for more arms
in Washington and was informed by U. S. Ambassador Jefferson
Caffery that the U. S. will supply her only with light weapons.

-

Newspapers throughout the United 'States acclaimed the Big
Three arms decision. The exception, The Detroit News, which'
saw fit editorially to assert that Israel has been "reaching for
whatever might be grasped in' the 'hour of opportunity," has
aroused resentment and forced a strong protest from Zionist
leaders. The Detroit News also misinterpreted the revised Isral
stand. on the question of Jerusalem and failed to indicate that
there has been no change in. Israel's original stand other than
a: revision in the proposal, namely, that the UN General Assem-
bly alone should be responsible for supervision of a limited area
containing the Holy Plates.

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1950, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Washington Echoes
The American-British-French agreement on the question of.
supplying arms to Israel and the. Arab states was drawn up at the
initiative of the United States ... President Truman was person::
ally interested for some time in this question and indicated this
to non-Zionist leaders who talked with him on this subject .. .
However, he did not like the protests that some of the American
Zionist groups arranged against the State Department-in con-
nection with U. S. policy on arms shipments to the Middle East
. The President implied to Jewish leaders that it is high time
Zionist groups in the United States should have confidence irt
him, since he has proven his friendship for Israel on more than
one occasion in crucial moments . , . He announced the text of
the three-power agreement a week before the' conference of the
American Zionist Council—scheduled to be held in Washington on
June 4—in order t6 avoid even the slightest indication that this
conference influenced the arms situation Officialdom in Wash- :
ington indicates that even under the three-power agreement Brit-
ain will continue to supply arms to Egypt, Jordan and Iraq, while,
France will sell arms to Syria and Lebanon ... Washington officials
say that the United States will see to it that equality between
Israel and the Arab states will be maintained . Some in Wash-
ington are going out of their way to create the impression that
the three-power agreement is in effect a guarantee against any
possible renewed warfare between the Arab countries and Israel...
However, the fact remains that Britain may still continue to send
arms to the Arab countries and' refuse the sale of such arms to-
Israel, even under the new pact.

Communal Affairs

The National Conference of Jewish SoCial Welfare parley next
week in Atlantic City will last about ,a week and will be one of
the most interesting Jewish conventions of the year . All major.
aspects of Jewish communal life, except those dealing with polit-
ical issues, will be analyzed by experts . . . Charles Zunser of NeW
York will be elected president for the „coming year. . .
The Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare- Funds will be.
the mediator between Jewish communities and the Joint Defense
Appeal where the two parties find it' difficult to resolve differenceS
through direct negotiations . . . The JDA has been asked to' in... -
form- the CJFWF before breaking Off relations with any corer
munity organization. • •
Jacob Billikopf draws my attention to the fact that the Na--
tional Christian Committee of the UJA is not the first Christian
group in America to raise funds for•jewish relief purposes .. . He
reveals that non-Jewish committees were raising funds for JewiSli
War Relief in 191/-18 when he was executive director of the AY if.9r-i'
ican Jewish Relief Committee.

