Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Unity—That Painful Effort With a - Sad History
'Battle .of- Boardwalk' Victory for Silver
ZOA Backs General Zionists as
Progressives Are Defeated at Parley
Jewish communities at no time were completely united on any
one issue. Only in time of crisis do we approach anything that
By JOE HARRISON FRIED
resembles unified effort. But even then there are. the petulant
Editor, American Jewish Press
front in defense
who balk and prevent the formation of a united
ATLANTIC CITY (AJP)—Pro-
•
of a cause or an -idea.
Silver-Neumann forces kayoed
Bertram W. Korn's "American Jewry and the Civil War," one Progressive Party supporters 329
of the very best books produced by the Jewish Publication Society to 127 last weekend to win the
of the Boardwalk, stormy
of America in many years, reveals the disunity that existed in Battle
main event in a three7day-long
American Jewry during the decade when abolitionism split this 54th annual national conven-
nation. His book reveals how Jewish opinion was divided into tion of the. Zionist Organization
pro-slavery and abolitionist factions, how several rabbis quoted of America here.
the Bible to prove the validity of slavery and how outspoken
This victory placed the 200,-
abolitionists like Rabbi David Einhorn of Baltimore made personal 000 member ZOA solidly behind
sacrifices in defense of their positions.
the General Zionist Party of Is-
In- the most interesting discussion in the entire book, relating rael on the eve of the Jewish
general elections.
to the controversy that arose over the Congressional action of state's
The victory scored by pro-
assigning to the battlefronts only Christian chaplains—a situation General Zionists came one min-
that later was changed thanks to the personal efforts of PreSident ute before midnight Sattirday
Lincoln—we learn of an internal Jewish conflict which proves after delegates defeated, by a
how disunited Jews can be. The acknowledgment of the Congres- vote of 320 .to 103, a substitute
sional blunder, which was corrected by an amended chaplaincy resolution introduced by Jacob
act in which the word "religion's" was substituted TO'. "Christian'? Alcaw, of Los Angeles, urging the
in the phrase that was made to read "some religious denomina- ZOA send fraternal greetings
tion," was the result of the effOrtS of a Mitch - immigrant, who and suptiort to both the Gen-
was acting in behalf of the Board of .Delegates of Arrierican eral _Zionist and . Progressive
Israelites. The_ author_ of American Jewry and the Civil 'War" parties.: •
Alcow's' resolution drew. sur-
stated that "the Rev. Arnold Fischel had represented American
Jewry -in the negotiations which successfully achieved this Prisingly enough, more than one
change:"_:But:the-Reforrn.rabbis were - pot associated in the Board third of the support from some
of Delegates 'OLAMerican Israelites and they therefore saw fit to ‘ middle :-_of-the ' roaders here as
as - the solid backing of the
- ev. Fischel's 'epieShtations. .".
protest against theRl
Progressives paced by veteran
Dr
. . 'Korn, signed by Rabbi's' 'Ziohist figure, Louis Lipsky.
In the "protest," :qubte-d :in
BrOwdy Re-elected
Isaac M. Wise, M. Lilienthal; O. Adler ; Henry.Hochheimer,
In:the *preliminaries leading
senthal and David Einhorn; the assertions are made: "While;. the
. by which . tip' to the much-heralded vote
undersigned . . . pray Copgress to ;repeal the. clause
regularly ordained ministers of our riersuasion are denied - their oh ties between American Zion-
Nav fists and Israel political parties,
constitutional right to officiate * as-_Chaplains in the Army or - Navy
of the United States, they - consider it -their duty in behalf of Benjamint.Browdy was re-elect-
truth to protest against the-.assumption of -titles and ftmetions ed president of ZOA, and Abra-
by the so-called 'Board of. Delegates,' _and to state that ..to the - ham Redel elm was swept into
_y: Of office-- as= president of the organ-
best of their knowledge, neither their- , Congregations, nor an
S administration Coun-
those presided over by regularly ordained Rabbis, have ever dele- ization
ell ... The expected battle for the
gated men or powers to that body,- or - otherwise recognized it. Council presidency, a traditional
ity demands the announcement
Justice to the Hebrew
that, as a religious organization;it is represented by no particular steppingstone to the ZOA presi-
denty, failed to develop.
.
body of men in this country' or elsewhere."
Re delheim was unopposed.
We have heard of 'Trot:est-- Rabbiner" in Germany: who Mortimer May became chairman
of the national executive com-
'sought to undermine the efforts of Dr. Theodor- Herzl during
mittee.
the early years of the establishnient of the World Zionist Organ-
ization. Now we learn about -another group of -qProtest Rabbis" •:` ..-Leon Kay and Morris Jacobs
who functioned in this _ : country in the Civil War period. The of DetrOit were re-elected mem-
t
executive
action of Dr. Isaac it,l; Wise and his associate's is a mark of dis- bets of henational
mann, past president of the ZOA
and a: moving force in world
Zionism, repeated a demand
voiced strongly and consistently
throUghout deliberations — a
status for the Zionist Movement
as a go-between the diaspora
and Israel.
Neumann accused Mapai of
"resorting to every expediency
to capture the World Zionist
Congress."
Progressives Map Drive
• Pi psky, in an address follow-
.
repute on the record of the early American Reform rabbis. Dr. committee .
AdoPtedbY &legates at a pol-
Korn, himself a graduate of the ReforM•Hebrew Union College,
iticalsession was a resolution
which was founded by Dr. I. M. Wise, ,makes this comment on
reaffirming the position taken
the actions of the protesting rabbis; -
.
-
by the ZOA National ExeCutive
It was not news that these rabbis refused to cooperate in Committee last October pledg-
the efforts of the Board of Delegatei to create a democraticallY. ing "continuation of fraternal
elected and effectively operative American Jewish organization, 1 relations . ' with- the General
or that they objected to its maintenance. Anyane_ who knew Zionist Party" and deplbring the
'9 brought about by the for-
anything at all about American Jewish life knew- that the Board
reliresented only those tongtegatiOns whiCh desired to partici- /nation of the Progressiye Par-
rep-resented
t y.''
pate in it, and that those were mainly of a -conservative reli-
-
Intern-al Interference' Issue
gious charactetr. The protest was not issued ,
to inform Jews of Alcow's substitute resolution
the opposition of the six-rabbis; it was a deliberate attempt to
urged the ZOA to back. both
sabotage the campaign. being - waged in Washington_ by Fischel the General Zionist and Pro-
for the revision of the chaplaincy clause, and
published gressive parties in Israel and re-
with an eye to the national lawmakers. Fische', w
aS relieved to
was
frain from meddling in the tiny
be informed by a member of the Military Affairs Committee democracy's internal politics.
`that it made no impression on them, that it excited ridicule
The strong backing for Alcow's
rather than otherwise and that they had resolved to adopt my resolution came in sharp con-
suggestion.' But if any Congressmen had been looking for an trast with a feeble attempt
excuse to withdraw their support from Fischel's proposals, the
earlier in the day by Progres-
`Protest Rabbis' had handed them an excellent one. No possible sives to defeat the pro-General
Zionist resolution in committee.
benefit could have accrued from the publication of the protest;
At that time Louis Lipsky,
much harm might have come to the cause which the 'Protest
Rabbis' admitted was a valid and just one. But so bitter was Rudolith Sonneborn and other
their hostility to the leaders of the New York and Philadelphia Progressive leaders could muster
only a puny =15 votes against
Jewish communities that they were willing to air their griev-
77 favoring 'a continued ZOA-
ances in the public press in order to bring shame upon the
General Zionist Party tie. The
Board and the Rev. Fischel.
strong showing from the floor
among rank-and-file .delegates
"It would have been eminently more fitting and constructive
if these rabbis had, for they time being, shelved their personal was met with serious concern by
ZOA Administrative leader s,
and religious differences with the leaders of the Board, and
had aided in the support of Fischel's devoted labors in Washing- though there remained little
ton. Their lack of support had an important bearing upon the doubt that pro-Silver-Neumann
forces continue to chart the pre-
outcome of the second phase of the Board's assignment to their
dominate forces of the organiza-
Washington representative." tion.
The second phase referred to involved the appointment of a A total of six speakers,. equal-
Jewish Chaplain. Dr. Fischel worked diligently at a personal sac- ly divided between supporters of
rifice and, unable to continue personally -to finance his mission, the General Zionist and Alcove
he abandoned the job. He must have been disillusioned. No one resolutions, addressed delegates
else deserved to be chosen the first American Jewish Chaplain as prior to a vote on the resolution.
much as he did. He returned to Holland. Only $1,000 - could have Neither the 0Z7backers nor the
assured continuation of his work. As Dr. Korn writes: Progressives brought their "big
guns" to-bear in the heated de-
" ... the antagonism of the Reform group and the indiffer- bate. Administration forces
ence of the large masses of , the Jewish population to any causes spokesmen Harry Torzcyner,
but their own: synagogues and local charitable_ organizations New York, Mortimer- May-; Nash-
militated against the Board's endeavors. This was a tragic and ville, and Abe Goldstein traded
disillusioning conclusion to the notable and noble service which verbs and adjectives with Calif-
ornia regional president Aleow,
the-Board of DelegateS and Dr. Fischel had rendered to Ameri-
Rabbi Max Nussbaum and Ezra
can Jewry and to America."
Shapiro.
The honor of being the first American rabbi to be named an Powers Behind the Storm
American Chaplain went to Jacob Frankel, on Sept. 12, 1862:
But those refraining from ac-
Meanwhile, the Reform Rabbis' action in the Board of Dele- tual debate on the floor were the
gates' issue proved the usual selfish approach: "if I do it, it is powers behind the stormy res-
olutions: Silver, and Neumann
good; if you do .it, I question the validity of the action."
for the GZ; Lipsky and Sonne-
We are much more fortunate today. While a Council for born for the Progressives.
Judaism insists on being obstructive, we doubt whether any single
Earlier, Dr. Emanuel N e u-
Jew or any group of Jews today would dare to assume a "protest-
ing" position like the one exposed in Dr. Korn's excellent book. Z — THE JEWISH NEWS
60---we have made progress. -
Friday, June fl, 1951
-
ing the 320-103 defeat sustain-
ed by the Progressives, said that
"it will be disconcerting for
many members of ZOA to dis-
cover they are now the partners
of one of the Israel political
parties and specifically. they are
now participating in the current
campaign to defeat Ben-Gurion
and the forces associated with
him."
He heatedly charged that
"this convention by discussion,
and debate has given the im-
pression of being an open cam-.
paign rally."
Administration forces were of
another and completely oppo-
site opinion. They held that the
reaffirmation of the ZOA's tie
with the General Zionist Party
was a "courageous step," in the
American Zionists' program to
assist the Jewish State. .
Progressives' Views
Joseph Saphir, General Zion-
ist - member of Israel's Parlia-
ment, told delegates that the
General Zionist Party in Israel
is striving for the welfare of the
whole people in Israel against
the policy of preferring the rise
and domination of one class.
Charging that the present re-
girne was leading to the growth
of economically powerful party
machines grounded in political
ideologies which would split the
nation into segments or tribes
quarreling with each other,
Saphir said "complete identifi-
cation of political creed with
material livelihood would sap
our strength."
Saphir told delegates the Gen-
eral Zionist Party "which is
rapidly gaining the confidence
of the electorate", believed in
"economic and social freedom
and political democracy."
Lipsky's Warnings
Progressive party supporters,
in one of a series of caucuses,
held following their strong
showing at Saturday night's
resolutions session,
-mapped
plans for added continued ac-
tivity on the American scene
and considered altering their
name because the term "pro-
gressive" is associated with
Communism on the American
scene.
Lipsky, meanwhile, warned
American Zionists in an address
preceding closing sessions, that
while Truman was friendly to
Israel the State Department still
overemphasizes Arab interests
against Israel. He cited the ad-
verse ruling by the United Na-
tions in- the Huleh incident and
opposition to the proposed $150,-
000,000 U. S. grant-in-aid to Is-
rael.
The United States' delegation
to the United Nations was urged
late Sunday to take- the lead in
clearing the political path fore.
the immediate implementation
of Israel's Hulah project. The
resolution was directed to Pres-
ident Truman and Secretary of
State Dean Acheson.
Storm Over B-G Message
Mixed reactions greeted Ben-
Gurion's "olive branch" cable
to the histbric 54th annual na-
tional convention. Rabbi Silver .
interpreted the• cable' as "a vic-
tory, for the. ZOA." Others
weren't quite so certain.
Ben-Gurion's cable . followed
verbal poundings administered
to during the opening sessions
of the convention. ZOA leaders
took sharp exception with BG's
recent refusal to recognize the -
ZOA as the representative of-
American Jewry to Israel.
"All parts of the movement,"
cabled Ben-Gurion, "irrespec=-
tive of social and spiritual ten-
dencies, are now called upon to
unite for common action." -
Ben-Gurion urged that the
convention "find in its midst
strength, will. and wisdom to
consolidate the movement and
turn the Zionist Organization
into an organization of the Jew-
ish people as a whole."
Highspot, according to observ-
ers, was an excerpt which stated.
the ZOA has been given- "a rare
opportunity to pave a way for
a unifying and united Zionist
movement which will stand at
the head of American Jewry
• •
"The message," commented .
Neuthann, "is ambigumis and
indefinite-saying little a n d
omitting much regarding the
status of the Zionist Movement :
which Ben-Gurion has so ser-
iously impaired."
Crohn Re-Elected
Zion Council Head
Lawrence Crohn was re-elec-
ted president of the Zionist
Council, of Detroit at a meeting
at the Shaarey Zedek on June 14,
Mrs. Morse
Saulson, Irving
Pokempner and
Irving W-. Sch-
lussel were elec-
ted vice - presi-
dents; William
- Hordes, treasur-
er; Mrs. Julian
:Tobias, secre-
L. W. Crohn tary; members
of the • executive committee:.
Morris M. Jacobs, Sidney She-
vitz, Aaron Schreier, Leon Kay,
Philip Slomovitz, Mrs. Theodore
Bargirian, Mrs. M. Michlin, Ben-
jamin M. Laikin, A. C. Lappin,
Morris Lieberman, Mrs. Philip
Fealk, Rabbis Leon Fram. Jacob
Segal, Moses Lehrman and Sid-
ney Akselrad.
In his report on the past
year's activities, Mr. Cr ohn
stated that new challenges face
Jewry_ in relation to the state
of Israel and urged that Zionist
forces should remain on guard
in defense of the Jewish state.
Between You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1951, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, inc.)
Zionist Moods
The question of how to establish . effective cooperation be-.
Zionists and non-Zionists is now occupying the attention
of American Zionist leaders . Premier David Ben-Gurion's
utterances in the U.S. on this subject prior to his return to Israel,
gave added impetus to this. study . .• The official stand of the
American- Zionist organization is that although is desirable to
bring about international coordination of. Zionist and non-Zionist
efforts on behalf of Israel, it would be difficult to institutionalize
such coordination on the international level . In the present
circumstances, with the emphasis shifting to territorial organiza-
tions, it is suggested that cooperation between Zionists and non-,
Zionists at least be strengthened on the territorial level ... ZOA
leaders indicate that they are prepared to enter into agreements,
with non-Zionists regarding the coordination of their respective
efforts and to participate in suitable agencies for such purposes ."
As an initial step in this direction, they recommend that American
Zionists promote the formation of a consultative body represent-
ing all Jewish groups interested in the welfare of Israel • . . Sim
liar arrangements are recommended for any other country in..
which coordination between Zionists and non-4onist fFiend4 .14 .
Israel appears advisable.