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Sword Over Plowshare
Jewish Life in Romania
Recalled in New Novel
Reactivated Nazism
From Bonn, Germany, comes disturbing
news. It is reported that "Der Stern," a
Hamburg periodical - with a circulation of
510,000, introduced to its readers Erwin
Berner, chairman of the NSD (National
Sammelbewegung fuer Deutschland), a new
German rightist party with the ostensible
ambition to salvage and promote "all that
was good" in Nazi ideology. "Der Stern" also
carried a picture serial under the heading
"Operation Sea Lion," showing photographs
of Hitler's abortive invasion of the British
Isles in 1940.
This report adds to the accumulating
proof that Nazism is coming to life again.
Anyone who has the audacity to state that
Nazism — the movement that inspired the
murder of 6,000,000 Jews—ever had any-
thing in it that was good defies the best in-
stincts of man.
Can any one sit back complacently in
view of such a revival of indecency?
•
'Sarcastic' Journalism
A news story, typical of the record of the
papers owned by Col. Robert E. McCormick,
signed by Joseph Hearst, published in the
Washington Times-Herald and Chicago Tri-
bune, made sarcastic references to David K.
Niles, who last week resigned as President
Truman's Assistant.
There are hints in the article that Mr.
Niles misused his position, alleging that
"capital observers regard Niles' desires to see
the new state of Israel as that of a man
wanting to see what he has created, for the
Washington version is that Mr. Truman toss-
ed the Israel problem to Niles and that he
masterminded the independence of the Jew-
ish state."
This article, like previous McCormick
newspaper stories which hurled attacks on
Jews active in our Government, states: "In
his day Niles dispensed Federal patronage,
put his proteges into the government at a
.pace exceeded only by the influx of Frank-
furter's bright young men, built political
machines and masterminded Presidential
nominations." It asserts that Mr.. Niles re-
signed when Mr. Truman became President
but "the minority groups, who found Niles a
constant friend who provided them entry
to the White House, howled their protests
and Mr. Truman persuaded Niles to stay."
There is something unsavory about this
piece. Some of Israel's best friends are non-
Jews and among those whom it has been
most difficult to enroll in support of the Jew-
ish state have been many prominent Jews.
Israel's rise . has captured the imagination of
Christians as well as Jews and the recogni-
tion Of the state's rebirth is one of the shin-
ning tributes to our Government's wisdom.
Mr. - Niles has nothing to be ashamed of, if
he actually had a great share in our Gov-
ernment's support of Israel.
It is utterly stupid, however, to say that
Mr. Niles "masterminded the independence
of the Jewish state." It would have been
safer to say that the Hitlerites and their
counterparts everywhere (the McCormicks
included, perhaps) masterminded the rise of
Israel. They drove the Jews to the wall. It
was a must for Jews who had nowhere to
turn to, to fight for freedom, and they form-
ed a state. It was a matter of safety and self.-
respect, and they fought with bare hands to
make their small country independent. Those
who understood the value of libertarian
ideals encouraged the Israeli fighters and
made their lot easier. Israelis would have
won regardless, because they had no alter-
native. Will the McCormicks ever learn this
truth?
The Graduates and the Community
Hundreds of our young men and women will be graduat-
ed this month from high schools and universities. Hundreds
will be confirmed and consecrated and many will be gradu-
ated from our community and congregatiOnal schools.
The college graduates will face problems of employment,
of placement in their professional fields, of earning a liveli-
hood. For a large number of the young men, the problem is
solved in advance by the Selective Service Act. The perennial
problem repeats itself this month for the tens of thousands
throughout the land who now are on their own and must
find ways of earning a livelihood.
For the Jewish community, a special problem is posed
by the graduations from our Jewish schools. Do they mean,
as they have in the past for the overwhelming majority, that
our boys and girls will have ended their Jewish studies?
Our community schools and nearly all of our congrega-
tions have shown a keen interest in the problem in the past
year. Adult education courses have been introduced and a
serious effort is being made to encourage the grown-ups to
pursue Jewish studies.
Unfortunately, there is a tendency to emphasize not the
major need for Jewish knowledge but rather the new fads
of acquaintance with psychiatry and with psychological prob-
lems. Since such study courses are available in the non-
sectarian field, in the universities, it is our belief that the
congregational adult schools unduly emphasize psychiatry
lectures. We have no doubt that such courses sensationalize
the over-all courses of study. and . possibly attract people who
would not enroll in synagogue-sponsored classes if such
course were not emphasized. Neither do we doubt, however,
that emphasis on psychiatry monopolizes valuable time and
takes away interest from the vital subjects which must be
taught in our schools.
In order to encourage our young people to continue their
Jewish studies, we must prepare them for uninterrupted interest
in our community life, in the history of our people, before their
graduations. And we must place emphasis not on the sensation-
al but on the concrete and the practical. Jewish history is in-
triguing enough in itself without requiring coloration of school
curricula by psychological and psychiatric attractions.
This is the time to plan for the future. Our rabbis and
teachers, our lay leaders and parents of graduates, owe it to
the wholesomeness of our community to give serious thought
to advanced Jewish studies. Unless the courses are Jewish
in content the schools lose their value.
We congratulate the large number of graduates and wish
them well in their future planning. We urge them to take a
deep interest in Jewish affairs and to -prepare through unin-
terrupted studies for an understanding of Jewish issues.
Ferguson's Near Eastern Report
Senators Homer Ferguson of Michigan and Theodore
Francis Green of Rhode Island have included lengthy refer-
ences to the Israel-Arab problem in their report on their
recent tour which took in many countries. It is sincerely
to be regretted that they found it difficult to visit Israel.
Their conclusions might have differed somewhat from those
incorporated in their report.
While the two Senators are deeply sympathetic in all
their approaches, it is evident from the brief comments
they make that the Jewish position has not been presented
to them during their tour. While they visited Lebanon and
the Old City of Jerusalem, they missed many points by not
seeing the wonders of Jewish achievements in the New City
Member: American Association of English-Jewish -News-
of Jerusalem and in the impressive. colonies that have been
papers, Michigan Press Association.
created out of. sand by Jews who fought with backs to the
Published every -Friday by The Jewish News Publishing
Co. 708-10 David Stott Bldg., Detroit 26, Mich., W0.5-1155.
wall against serious obstacles.
Subscription $4 a year; foreign $5.
The two eminent Senators speak of the need for com-
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942 at Post Office,
Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879.
pensation of the Arab refugees by Israel. Offers for par-
ticipation in vast relief efforts have been made by the Jewish
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
state, but the refusal of .Arab leaders to recognize the reality
SIDNEY SHMARAK, Advertising Manager
of Israel's existence has stood in the way of a practical
Vol. XIX—No. 12
Page 4
June 1, 1951 solution to this problem.
There is one unfair note in the two Senators' report:
their comment that 900,000 Arabs were driven out of Pales-
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the twenty-seventh day of tine. Arabs were not driven out; they fled at the instigation
of the Mufti ; and the given figure is exaggerated.
Iyar, 5711, the following Scriptural selections
It is to be hoped that the two Senators will have an
will be read in our synagogues:
opportunity to study the facts on the spot, in Israel, in
Pentateuchal portion—Lev. 26:3-27:34.
order to view for themselves what has been done in defiance
Prophetical portion—Jer. 16:19-17:14.
of Arab attempts to impose mediavalism upon the Jewish
On Tuesday, Rosh Hodesh Siva -n, Num. 28:1-15 communities. It is the progress of Israel that irks the back-
will be read daring :morning services.
ward Arab countries.
THE JEWISH NEWS
U. S.-inspired Faith
Included in the avalanche of new novels
about life in the Old World is a novel by Joseph
S. Diamond, a practicing physician who finds
time to write, and displays marked ability as
a story-teller. His "Door to Hope," published by
Greenberg, 201 E. 57th St., N.Y. 22, is based in
great measure on personal experiences in
Romania which he has incorporated in his well
written novel.
"Door of Hope" is the story of Romanian
Jews 60 years ago, in the days of the dedication
of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
It is the story of a struggle for existence, for
human rights, for a just way of life .
The hero, evidencing a craving for secular
studies, away from the Talmudic, acquires a
passion for the right, for the cause of the under-
dog. He expresses his views in a newspaper in
his native Romania, but hooligans ganged up
and destroyed the shop. He left for America,
later gained a place as an editorial writer, re-
turned to Romania and became a leader in the
revolutionary movement.
He converted to revolutionary thinking a-
young Christian Romanian friend who in turn
became enamoured with a Jewess. While they
converted the peasants to their way of think-
ing, their triumph was short-lived. There came
pogroms, devastation, tragedies. Our JeWish hero
turned to his old love—America—and became
determined to settle his family in this free land.
The "Door of Hope" is the only thing that mat-
tered to him.
This interesting novel will arouse nostalgic
feelings among former Romanian Jews who will
recall personal experiences—like the author's—
that will match those described in the novel.
The book is valuable both in its account of the
troubles in Romania and the faith that is in-
spired by America.
Arab Farmers in Israel
Modernize Gradually
By ADA OREN
(Copyright, 1951, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
TEL AVIV—Arab agriculture is being mod-
ernized gradually by the introduction of niachin-
ery, improvements in the water supply and the
reassembling of livestock depleted during the
war. The government, which employs both Jews
and Arabs for the purpose, has only recently
completed the accumulation of basic statistics.
Seventy-five percent of all land 'cultivated by
Arabs in Israel still belongs to 15 percent of their
community, with 60 percent of the peasants liv-
ing as sharecroppers. Many landless Arab peas-
ants, including families who lost land on the
other side of the new border and are cut off
from outside employment by emergency regula-
tions, as well as Bedouins who were forbidden
to roam, were allotted land abandoned by others
and offered the hire of government tractors for
its cultivation pending the acquisition of tools
of their own—to the great dissatisfaction of
-moneylenders, tribal sheikhs and others who
used to thrive on their poverty.
Unfortunately, some find it easier to pay the
customary one-third in kind as sharecroppers
than the tithe the government demands in cash.
Most government agricultural loans to
Arabs are allotted for the extension of crops
which Jews do not yet grow, or grow in insuf-
ficient quantities. However, the basic factor
in. this calculation—lower Arab production
costs—was recently challenged successfully in
court by an Arab olive growers' cooperative, so
that the government had to nearly double the
price paid Arabs for olives destined for export.
Recently Arab peasants were encouraged to
form marketing cooperatives and to acquire 33
percent of the shares of a new marketing com-
pany for Arab produce to be run mainly by the
Jewish partners. As transportation permits are
required for rationed foods, the food control
authorities can ignore the wishes of the parties
concerned in their efforts both to protect Arab
farmers and to put an end to the diversion of
their produce to the black market.
Arab villages will 'continue to be paid less for
their produce than their Jewish neighbors; with
two-thirds of the difference to be spent on vil-
lage improvements in Arab areas and most of
the remainder in the form of subsidies to Arab
farmers growing needed crops.
A Knesset subcommittee decided to review
this decision as soon as the Arab villages start
paying regular taxes, and meanwhile to give
Arab producers and local councils, where the
latter exist, a say in the administration of the
planned improvement fund.
Much of Israel Arab economic .dissatisfac-
tion centers around the Custodian of Aban-
doned Property, who originally laid his hand
on everything belonging to any. Arab who was
not at his permanent domicile at a given date.
Those who can prove that they left their
homes only temporarily during spells of fight-
ing are. exempt • from its provisions.
The Arab Knesset members have not yet 811(2,
ceecled in getting property returned to Arab
refugees who returned legally from abroad or
from an area which had been under Arab occu-
pation.