Catholic Book Praises Jewish Efforts In the Rebuilding of the Holy Land NEW YORK, (JTA)—A warm courses in medicine, arts, scien- tribute to the Jewish upbuilding ces anil archaeology. A lively ex- of the Holy Land is contained port trade has been established in a' book published under the and the fame of Palestinian aegis of the Catholic Church citrus products• has spread and the imprimatures of Arch- through Europe and the British bishop Patrick D. Boyle of Isles. What the future holds for Washington and of Hyacinth, the new state of . Israel no one Faccio, Custos of the Holy Land. can predict — these Jews love The volume, "The Catholic the land are dedicated to it by Shrines of the Holy Land," by their lives and labors. the Very Rev. Paschal Kinsal, of . "Long ago the plaintive song the Commissary of the Holy Land, and Rev. Leonard Henry of the Jewish captives in Baby- of the Commissariat of the Holy lon sounded the keynote: Jeru- Land at Jerusalem, is profusely salem, if I forget thee, perish illustrated with photographs by the skill of my right hand! Let Arthur W a g g , and includes my tongue stick fast to the root many scenes of Jewish life in of my mouth if I cease to re- Israel. After referring to places holy member thee . . . the fountain- to the Jews, the authors declare: head of my content.' This could "The Jews, however, do not be the motif of the present day remain idly gazing upon the builders of Israel as their work past. Israel has come to the land with well - planned scientific goes on in the twentieth cen- methods and now the desert tury." blossoms like the rose. Trades. have been revived, new indus- tries have appeared. The Jew- 2—THE JEWISH NEWS ish university offers advanced Friday, August 31, 1951 Purely Commentary By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ `The Troubled Air'—A Lesson in Courageous Americanism "The Troubled Air" by Irwin Shaw (Random House) is all the reviewers say about the novel. It is one of the outstanding works of fiction of our day. The two extremes of pro-Communism and violent conservatism are echoed in the exciting story brilliantly told by the able narrator. Shaw succeeds in every detail—in the brilliance of his style, in the weaving of his plot, in the expose of the reactionary atti- tudes of Americans who become frightened by the very sound of a liberal word—especially if they ‘Can trace it to Truman—and in the indictment of the ruthlessness of the Communists who even abuse lifelong friendships to accomplish their ends. The hero of the story, Clement Archer, is confused. A former university professor who has become a director of a radio program, his chief aim is to judge talent on its merits. But the red-baiting scare has brought him into the center of a move by the -sponsor of his program to weed out Communists. Archer defends the able actors, at the cost of his own position. He defies the program's booking agent by going directly to the sponsor, and the agent vows vengeance. Archer's telephone is tapped, he gets abusive calls compelling him to disconnect the phone, but he carries on the struggle for "principle,"—only to learn that his best friend, whom. he had defended, really was the leader of a Communist cell. Thus misled, Archer learns the truth: how he was used as a tool by a friend for whom he vouched that he was not a Com- munist but who turned out to be his betrayer; how" his career was destroyed by an agent he dared defy; how his family life was nearly ruined. His friend, the betrayer, had led him to believe it was the FBI that had tapped his phone. When Archer learned the truth he was relieved. "At least it wasn't the government." Faith in America is restored. Thus, there are victims of reactionaries as well as of red- baiters. The first casualty is the able musician Pokorny, the Viennese-Jewish composer who was a Communist 25 years earlier for two months but whose American wife admittedly was- a Red. Pokorny finally committed suicide, unable to risk the strain of threatened deportation. So, there are Jewish angles in this novel. The particularly important Jewish reaction, to the ideological struggle involving Communism—since undeniably there exist such attitudes—is expressed in the opinions of the drug manufac- turer who sponsored Archer's program. When Archer went to Philadelphia to plead in defense of his actors with Robert Sand- ler, the wealthy sponsor, he first was taken to lunch at the club. At the serving of the drinks, this conversation ensued: "Didn't drink until I was fifty," Mr. Sandler said. "Then I heard a hotel owner at a summer resort say he didn't like Jews to come to his place because they didn't drink, and all his profit came from the bar. Thought that was a reasonable enough at- titude. Promptly went to the bottle. Haven't stopped since." He smiled briefly. "Pleasantest way of combatting anti-Semi- tism yet devised. You knew I was Jewish, didn't you?" "Yes," Archer said, feeling uncomfortable. "The nose." Mr. Sandler tapped his nose vigorously. "Gets longer every year. Never stops growing. Hell of an imposition on the chosen people. . ." Here you have another expose—the fright in some Jewish ranks, the panic that is aroused when a bar-operator tells you Jews are bad customers because they don't drink—the weak thus being terrorized into drink. More: Sandler was frightened by "all those Jewish names you see on the Communist lists," calling it "ammunition for the ene- my." And in the same breath he becomes his own worst enemy by telling the non-Jew Archer this joke: "A typical Jewish joke. Cohen is angry. He can't get into a hotel. He tells Levy, 'You know what we are—we're second-class citizens in this country.' Levy thinks for a minute and he looks up to Heaven. 'God for- bid,' he says, 'it should ever change.' " Relates the novelist: "Mr. Sandler looked fiercely at Archer. Archer didn't laugh. He was sorry he had heard the joke. Its bitter lilt, he knew, would echo and re-echo in his brain whenever he talked to a Jew from now on." Irwin Shaw, in brilliant style, thus unclothes in all their nakedness those Jews who, out of fear, become self-hating and panicky. This is a point we have failed to see recorded in the numerous good reviews of Shaw's "The Troubled Air." It is one of the most significant elements in his great novel. It should serve as a lesson to all Americans that the best principles of our heritage need not be sacrificed to terror; that you do not have to interpret basic ideals with crude jokes. This applies with equal force to the Jewish legacies. "The Troubled Air" is one of the very great novels of our time, from the point of view of story as well as moral. Let it be included in our Americana—and as a lesson to panic-stricken Jews, let it also be a part of our Judaica. It'll do the reader a lot of good in bolstering his courage and in guiding him away from vulgar judgment when seeking a guide to true Americanism. H istorical Sea rch? elvish Mom Bids for 'Mrs. A' Title Studio 'Hunts' Kin Of David and Bathsheba ; 20 Claim 'That's Me !' NEW YORK, (AJP)—Whether it's a gimmick or for real re- mained an unanswered question as a top flight Hollywood studio sought descendents among the city's 2,500,000 Jews of the famed Biblical characters David and Bathsheba. Press agents for the 20th Cen- tury-Fox film, "David and Bath- sheba," scheduled for release in September, inserted advertise- ments in newspapers requesting descendents to write-in. By the week's end a spokesman for the film studio estimated' that "20 odd letters were received here." The "descendents" listed their hereditary line dating back to the Biblical characters and film spokesmen said that Facts, Inc., had been engaged to check the validity of the "heirs." One of the contending "heirs" is attractive Ethel S. Ginther, of Brooklyn. Movie spokesmen failed to indicate whether the —American Jewish Press Photo woman claimed a link with Flanked by her little daughter, who admiringly toys with the David or his alluring Biblical trophy awarded mom as the winner of the "Mrs. Brooklyn" title, girlfriend. attractive Mrs. Blossom Kagan has her eye on the "Mrs. America" Legacies to the JNF Pass $4,000,000 Mark The head office of the Jewish National Fund in Jerusalem an- nounced that monies deposited with the JNF in the form of Living Legacies have passed the $4,000,000 mark. While most of the Legacy Fund has come from residents in Israel, a substantial part of it was made possible by legacies set up by Jews in Eu- rope and in the United States. The Living Legacy is an an- nuity form through which money is invested with the Jew- ish National Fund for which the investors are paid a rate of in- terest in the form of an annuity. These provide an income during the lifetime of the investor, and establish a residue which is ul- timately used to create projects in Israel honoring the memory of the investor. A department for these activi- ties has been set .up by the Jew- ish National Fund in New. York at 41 E. 42nd St. Two Israel Surveyors Slain by Arab Infiltrees JERUSALEM, (JTA)—The Is- rael government submitted a strongly worded protest to the United Nations Mixed Armistice Commission following the killing of two Israeli surveyors by Arab infiltrees near Sodom. Two other Israeli surveyors were wounded by the -Arabs. The Israel protest says that the Jordan authorities are "fully responsible" for the attack. The Jordan government, the protest points out, has not taken strong enough action to 'secure its bor- ders and prevent armed bands from crossing and attacking Is- raeli points. British-made cart- ridges were found at the spot where the attack took place. British Arm's, Leader Praises Israel Forces LONDON, (JTA) — Gen. S i r Brian Robertson, British com- mander-in-chief in the Middle East, is voicing warm praise of the Israel Army of Defense, the London Daily Mail reported. "Sir Brian has seen Israeli soldiers first hand," the paper said today, "and he has formed a high opinion of their fighting qualities. His advice has gone a long way in persuading the For- eign Office to adopt a more friendly attitude towards Israel. "Sir Brian's opinion is more than usually important at this moment," the paper said, "be- cause he is to be head of the new North Atlantic Treaty Or- ganization Middle East Defense Organization with which he hopes both Israel and the Arab States will be associated." Gen. Robertson visited Israel last Spring on a courtesy tour of Middle East countries and in addition to conferring with Is- rael government heads, visited the General Staff of the Israeli Army and watched troop man- euvers. title in competition late this week. Should she win, Mrs. Kagan would be the nation's first Jewish "Mrs. America" titleholder. ZOA's Economic Mission Reports Israel Ripe for Foreign Investment JERUSALE M, (JTA)—The I The ZOA leader reported that Zionist Organization of America's American businessmen will soon economic mission which h a s ; help establish three new com- been studying industrial and mercial and industrial ventures business conditions in the Jew- in Israel. They will be: a 3,000,- ish state will, upon its return 000-pound cement factory which to the United StateS, report that will produce 20 per cent of the conditions are "excellent" for country's domestic needs; a fac- n private investments in Israel. toring corporation to furnish Isador Turover, of Washing- raw materials for local industry ton, D.C., chairman of the com- and market Israeli products in mission, told the press that after the United States; and, a com- a determined investigation of pany which will rent farm ma- rumors of discrimination against chinery to private farmers. private investors, the group was "convinced that there is no Former Nazi Acquitted truth that such a policy exists." PARIS, (JTA)—A French mili- He said that "some minor of- tary tribunal has acquitted Ger- ficials might have been over- hard Utikal, former chief of the zealous in pushing the Socialist Nazi office for requisitioning art Party's philosophy in the grant- works in France during the Ger- ing of import licenses and for- man occupation, of responsibil- eign exchange requests." But ity in the seizing of art works this situation was "always cor- and valuables owned by French rected." Jews. On the Record By NATHAN ZIPRIN (Copyright, 1951, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate) Odd But True Dublin, Texas, is one of the Irish strongholds in America. In fact almost all the 3,000 residents of the town are Irish. But it is ruled by a Jew, Mayor Morris. Hoffman, the only Jew in the town. Hoffman defeated his Irish opponent in 1948 and has repeated the performance ever since. One of the town's wits ascribed Batman's victory to the fact that the Irish consider themselves descendants of the lost Israelite tribe. Dublin's mayor, incidentally, is an immi- grant from Russia. Picturesque Paris has a suburb called "Ville Juif," so named probably because it had many Jewish residents. It seems the Frenchman of the suburb took a liking to Jewish melodies and re- tained them long after the Jewish community of "Ville Juif" was gone. Passing the suburb one frequently hears busy housewives humming almost forgotten Jewish tunes. And in the cafes it is not unusual to see couples dancing to the fiddling of Jewish melodies. - An American Jew is the dean of the law faculty of Oxford University. He is Arthur Goodheart, nephew of Senator Herbert H. Lehman. He is the second 'American Jew to hold the title "King's Counsellor." The first one was Judah Benjamin, who served as Secretary of State under the Confederacy during the Civil War. Of the approximately 24,000 Jews in France who applied for naturalization papers in the past five years, about eleven thousand assumed French-sounding names. In Israel, where thousands of Eastern European Jews have assumed Hebraic names, a Yemenite Jew recently applied for permission to change his name to Gold7 berg. About People Sholem Asch recently complained to friends that he was not having "naches" from his children. His son Nathan, himself an Out-; standing writer, was thrice married and on each occasion the bride was Christian. Finally Asch senior lost patience with 'his son's marital proclivities, declaring that he didn't so much Mind his son's affairs 'of' the heart as the fact that he didn't even once give him a Jewish daughter-in-law. The late William Randolph Hearst once published a Yiddish paper in New York and almost wrecked a number of Yiddish publishers. It was in 1909. Hearst at that time posed as a great liberal -and he realized that he must have the Jewish vote if he were to attain his political ambitions. He was running for Gover- nor on. his own ticket with Democratic endorsement. A number of Jewish public relations men he consulted advised him to put out the Yiddish paper, the - Jewish American. Hearst was defeated, but the paper reached such vast circulation that his business man- agers thought it advisable to keep it rolling even after the election. The paper lasted about a year and it was given up, it was said at the time, only after a number of prominent Jews pled with Hearst that his venture was wrecking the legitimate Yiddish press.