As the Editor Views the News An Urgent Erasing Job New 'Believe it or Not' "Ripley's New Believe It Or Not," just pub- lished by Simon & Schuster (1230 6th Ave., N. Y. 20), retains its traditional entertaining and in- formative qualities. Carried on by Robert Rip- ley's staff, the variety of unusual stories—all verified, of course—runs into the hundreds. Roots of Survival Three important adrresses delivered at functions in New York placed emphasis on the Hebrew language as a factor in Israel's survival. At the Histadrut Ivrith celebration, Israel Ambassador Abba Eban declared that "neg- lect of the Hebrew movement will lead us down the path of assimilation in the Dias- pora" and warned that without the "Hebrew language there will be no bridge of coopera- tion" between Israel and world Jewry. Louis Lipsky, speaking at the same func- tion, asserted that the "ties that bind, the Jews in countries outside of Israel to the growing Hebraic life in Israel will have to be strengthened." Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, in an address at the dinner of the American Association for Jewish Education, declared that Jewish life in America, in order to survive, "must send its roots deep down into the rich soil of Jewish faith and Jewish learning" ; that - the synagogue, "which is also the school," must be strengthened"; that: "No- Jewish Community ever survived for long which ignored Hebrew. If we think of any cul- tural link between Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora, we must think in terms of the Hebrew language." The distinguished scholars who made these statements agree that Hebrew is one of the strongest roots of Jewish survival, that without it there is little hope of de- feating assimilationist trends. Jewry's duties on this score are ap- parent: our schools must be strengthened, the Hebrew language *must be advanced, emphasis should be placed on adult edu- cation with as much force as we advance the training of our children. Fortunately, adult schools in our com- munity—especially the advanced synagogue courses—include Hebrew and related sub- jects. A great deal remains to be done to achieve the end of bringing Hebrew into every Jewish home. As an instrument for Jewish survival, the study of Hebrew should be given a place of priority in our communal planning. Pay Your Pledge NOW! The launching of the 1951 United Jewish Appeal, at the national conference called for this week-end in Atlantic City, should be preceded by assurances that outstand- ing pledges to the 1950 countrywide drives will be paid as speedily as possible. From Israel come reports of a recur- ring problem—the sufferings to which im- migrants, especially children, are subjected by the rains and the cold weather. A re- port from Tel Aviv states that at least 6,000 children of school age need homes durino - the winter, the first intense rainfall of the year having affected adversary immigrant camps. A gloomy picture is painted in accounts by eyewitnesses who reported that tents were flooded and beds soaked, in spite of specially-fitted double flaps. In one tent a father was seen holding aloft his two- year-old child as deep mud covered the floor space. Children were seen standing bare- footed in mud for lack of footwear and par- ents were reluctant to part with teen-age children who were offered shelter by the urban population. Israel's population again is doing the utmost to solve the tragic problem. But there stilt are neary 40,000 men, women and children in camps whose lot can be im- proved . only by the major national funds provided by the United Jewish Appeal. Unpaid pledges totalling millions are on the books of many American Jewish communities, including our own. Prompt payment of these pledges will help alleviate suffering. THE JEWISH NEWS Member: American Association of English-Jewish News- prxers Michigan Press Association. Publishec every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co. 708-10 David Stott Bldg.. Detroit 26. Mich., WO. 5-1155. Subscription S3 a year: foreign $4. Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942 at Post Office, Detroit Mich.. under Act of Marti, $. 1879. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor SIDNEY SHMARAK, Advertising Manager Vol XVIII—No. 14 Page 4 December 15, 1950 Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the seventh day of Tebet, 5711, .. the following Scriptural selections will be read: Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 44:18-47:27. • Prophetical portion—Ezek. 37.15-28. Scriptural Selections for Fast of Tebet . On Tuesday, Fast of Tebet, Ex. 32:11-14, 34: 1-10 will be the Pentateuchal selection and Is. 55:6-56:8 the Prophetical portion. Ripley's Jewish- Oddities Among the items covered are several of Jew- ish interest. We learn, for instance,- that "7 mil- lion women are named after the little village of Magdala, Israel. Such names as Magdalena, Magdaleh, Lena, Madeleine, Madeline, Magda- lene, Madelon, Marlene, Maud, Ena, etc., etc. are all taken from this little village in the Holy Land!" In explaining that Honduras, meaning Depths, derives its name from a Psalm, we are told: "It was named by Columbus after the 130th Psalm: `Out of the Depths have I called unto Thee.' Co- lumbus recited the Psalm in Spanish and the Spanish word for 'DEPTHS' is 'HONDURAS'." Here is another interesting item: "The seven branched candle stick, sacred symbol of the Jews, was copied from the Salvia Plant that grows on the rocky hills of the Holy Land." And another interesting story is: "David, King of Israel, was twice as rich as the richest country in the world. According to I. Chronicles, 22:14 and 29:4, David possessed - 103,000 talents of gold and 1,007,000 talents of silver. The intrinsic value of this hoard is $6,041,070,000. Translated into present' day purchasing power it would equal 120 billion dollars, or more than twice the cash available in the U. S., including money in circu- lation and stored in the Treasury." A warning issued by 11 PrOtestant leaderS that "wide- Under the heading "Radio Kol Sheloleh Mi- spread anti-Jewish feeling is a cancerous growth pushing its saph Haolam Vuad Sophoe," which is translated evil roots deep into the vitals of the Christian church" poses as "Radio, a voice that goes from one end of the many questions. world to the other," this book explains: "This The prominence of the men who signed the statement, Hebrew passage with its ultra modern sound headed by Dr. Henry A. Atkinson, general secretary of occurs in a book written 1,800 years ago—Talmud Church Peace Union and co-chairman of the Council Against Yomah, 21." `Conscience-Cleansing' Appeal Intolerance, lends great significance to their views. The scholarly approach to the request that Christian churches should "examine, cleanse and correct" their conscience be- cause "before God . . . Christians are guilty . . . if not the sole cause of anti-Semitism" undoubtedly will arouse in- teresting discussion. For Jews, the statement will create curiosity whether its release means that anti-Semitism again is raising its hoary head. or whether the authors of the warning have written it in anticipation of a revival of bigotry and out of a desire to cure the evil before it becomes too dangerous for all concerned. Logical in its analyses, the statement of the Christian leaders shows that Jews have their culprits and their saints, that "they fall into error • and exalt the truth," but "for all their faults Jews have contributed as much if not more to the superstructure of civilized life as any other people. But they have never been strong enough to prevent other people yielding to the baser motives of discrimination and persecu- tion." Its pre-Christmas timing gives special significance to the following elements in this statement : It calls for re- . examination of Christian literature beginnino- with the use of New Testament sources, and urges correction b of errors. It makes this important declaration: Thanks to diligent scholarship, it is now generally believed that the Gospel of John, a general favorite, was written very late, close to the end of the First Century, and probably by a Gentile. By that time the unhappy distinction between the Gentile Christian Church and Judaism was gaining ground. In the synoptic tradition of Mark, Matthew and Luke, there is scarcely more than a half-dozen references to "the Jews." John multiplies this ten-fold! The uninitiated reader might well inquire if the Jews were but one of several peoples who heard the preaching of Jesus. The "common people" of Mark who heard the Master gladly become, in John, "many people", or "much people of the Jews." Moreover, the reader gained the impression, not so much of authorities at odds with Jesus, as of Jews hounding, persecuting, and at last guilty of the cruci- fixion. It is somewhat as if • an outsider wrote the story of the abolitionist martyr, Elijah Lovejoy, constantly referring to "the Americans." "Many people listened eagerly to Lovejoy, but 'the Americans' hounded him from place to • place; three times burned his printing press, . and finally 'the Americans' mur- dered him." True enough. But Lovejoy and all around him, defenders and foes alike, were Americans, just as in ancient Palestine Jesus and his friends and foes alike were all Jews, save the Roman officials, soldiers and an occasional sojourner." Dr. Atkinson and the other authors of this statement proceed to show that: It was not "the Jews (or even "the Romans") who crucified Jesus; it was the sins of men. Those same forces of evil are ac- tive today; indeed, millions have been "crucified" by them. Among the recent victims were six million Jews . . . The materials; used in our Sunday Schools, colleges and theological seminaries have sometimes, if unwittingly, been in error. To correct this fault, we must be humble and honest enough to recognize that Christianity builds on the founda- tion of Jewish Faith. It takes a lot of courage to admit faults and to ask for the correction of errors. The eminent Christian leaders not only call for just practices but expose faults in the litera- ture of their Faith. They are firm in their assertions that "widespread anti-Jewish feeling is a cancerous growth" and they do not hesitate to say that "we are the guilty • ones." Their appeal is weakened because it is limited to the Protestant group. But if the Protestant churches respond well to this call, it will be sufficient to influence revision of hitherto erroneous views of the Jewish position in relation to Christianity, 'Proverbs of Solomon': An interesting Conflation "The Proverbs of Solomon, the Son of David, King of Israel," described as "a new conflation," with introduction, notes, glossary and index, is a highly scholarly work which will prove valuable.. to laymen an students alike. A. D. Power, who 10 years ago edited "Ecclesi- asticus," prepared this work which he bases on the versions and emendations of a number of noted scholars and Biblical authorities. Reasons for variations are explained in 70 pages of notes. The text proper is interestingly arranged. Cross headings and the index are most helpful. The titles to different sections lend to this book encyclopedic dignity. Longmans, Green & Co., 232 W. 18th St., New York 11, published this volume.. Facts You Should Know .. . Is the practice of the engagement ring Jewish origin? of Originally a Jewish marriage took place in two parts, often as much as 12 months removed from each other. The first part was called "Eru- sin" which means betrothal. This was accom- plished by the official presentation of the wed- ding ring (originally some other token or coin). After this the couple were married in the l e gal sense but were not yet allowed to live together until the latter part of the marriage, called "Nesuin," was performed after which the bride finally joined her husband. Since, in later years, these two ceremonies were combined into one, as is the case today, there was still a yearning to characterize the agreement of the marriage. In Jewish life the announcement of a marriage is characterized traditionally by a ceremony called "Tenoim," during which a contract or agreement is .made and gifts.are exchanged, after which a platter is broken. In the process of the exchange of gifts it became practical to use the solitaire diamond as the gift of the grooM to his bride. Why is it customary to adorn the Holy Scrolls with metal crowns? Why do we find, the crown so prominently displayed on the coverings of the Scrolls as well as on the velvet draperies that adorn the Ark where the Scrolls_ are kept? In diSplaying the crown in the ornamenta- tions that drape and cover the Holy Scroll which contains the Divine Commandments, we show that no absolute monarchy is recognized save the Lord himself. Therefore, when man errone- ously makes laws that are contradictory to that of the Divine Law the people of Israel have always adhered to the Divine Law. An inter- esting fact is disclosed by some writers who point out that the 613 commandments found in the Holy Scroll plus the seven added by the rabbis make a total of 620. It so happens that the He- brew word for crown (Keser) has the numerical equivalent of 620, indicating that the command- ments of Israel were meant to be a crowning feature of the faith of the people of Israel.