Challenge to Libertarians
As the Editor
Views the News
Campaign Problems
Upon the return to Detroit of our com-
munity's leaders who will attend the Feb.
24 session of the United Jewish Appeal in
Miami Beach, the Allied Jewish Campaign
will be set into motion and it will be neces-
sary for all of us to unite our forces to as-
sure the success of the drive.
An examination of past achievements
may be of value at this time. In 1942 there
were 22,445 contributors to the Allied Jew-
ish Campaign. Their gifts totalled $897,341.
In 1943, 1944 and 1945, the drive merged
- with the War Chest. Independent campaigns
were resumed in 1946 When 22,120 people
made contributions which, together with
$912,091 from the War Chest, provided the
Allied Jewish Campaign with a sum of $3,-
744,351. The number of contributors rose to
27,454 in 1947, for .a total of $3,968,071.
The high mark in campaigning was
reached in 1948 when 30,734 gave a sum of
$5,755,590. In 1949, 28,923 people contribut-
ed $5,407,447. In 1950 there were 28,003 par-
ticipants in the drive that netted $4,600,000.
There was a better result in 1951, when
28,533 contributed $4,701,161.
Now we are entering a new drive, with
a goal 10 percent above last year's. Based
.on the experiences of the best year-1948
—it is evident that the raising of larger
sums will depend on - the number of people
reached and upon the number of workers
There- is something remarkably unique about the fes-
enlisted in the drive.
tival to be observed on Monday. Hamisha Asar b'Shvat is
The major present need, therefore, is Israel's New Year of the Trees. The storms which have rav-
the enrollment of volunteers. More work- aged the 1VIaabaroth of the new settlers have subsided and
ers will mean more contributors. A larger the newcomers to the Jewish state have settled down to
working force will enable the campaigners plant and to sow, knowing that "as ye sow, so shall ye reap."
to share responsibility and to reach many
In spite of exile and dispersion, Jews everywhere cele-
people who either have not given at all brated the 15th day of Shvat by remembering Zion, by re-
last year or previous contributors who calling that Israel once "blossomed as the rose," and reaf-
should be inspired to increase their gifts.
firming time and again that persecutions do not destroy a
*
people that has chosen to live.
Regarding the goal of $5,200,000: Israel
Isaac D'Israeli once said that "the Hebrew adopts the
remains our major obligation. We dare not hostilities and alliances of the land where he was born."
let the valiant Jewish state down and it is This is true of the political allegiance of Jews throughout
imperative that we should strive to giVe Is- the world. But his son, Benjamin Disraeli, who became Lord
rael the largest possible sum. Unfortunately, Beaconsfield after serving as Britain's Prime Minister, knew_
there is a sad experience on this score. The a higher value. He understood a spiritual existence when, in
United Jewish Appeal, which provides funds a day when the term Zionism was unknown and when a state
for Israel's upbuilding and for the absorption of Israel was but a dream—he asserted:
and integration of the immigrants in the
"The vineyards of Israel have ceased to exist, but the eter-
Jewish state, received from the Allied Jew- nal law enjoins the children of Israel still to celebrate the vin-
ish Campaign $2,750,000 in 1946, $3,000,000 tage. A race that persists in celebrating their vintage, although
in 1947, $4,050,000 in 1948, $3,575,000 in they have no fruits to gather, will regain their vineyards. What
1949, $2,936,484 in 1950 and $2,729,998 in sublime inexorability' in the law! But what indomitable spirit
1951.
in the people!"
These figures explain bluntly the ex-
The vineyards have been regained because the people
isting situation. The decline in allocations have clung to the law and to a high goal.
to Israel motivated Joe Holtzman's . pro-
This is the lesson of. Hamisha Asar b'Shvat, the day on
posal for a guarantee to Israel of the same which Israel plants vineyards, the day on which Jews
sum allocated in 1951. The pre-campaign throughout the world provide means for sustenance to their
budget conference on Jan. 27 rejected this kinsmen by planting trees in the Holy Land. It is a blessed
proposal, and the only assurance left at day because it spells freedom.
this moment that Israel's traditional sup-
port will continue is the raising of the en-
tire goal requested.
*
*
Two editorial comments in last week's issue of The Na-
There is no need reminding Detroiters of tion tell the tragic story of a reversal to bigotry and reaction
obligations. We know them and from past in Germany and in Italy. This is how The Nation describes
experiences it is safe to assume that all of the manner in which the clock is being turned back in Europe:
us understand them. It is imperative, how-
TWO OFFICIAL DECISIONS
THE REAPPEARANCE OF
ever, that this should be indicated: that re-
duction in contributions should be discour- HANDED DOWN recently in MUSSOLINI'S FAMOUS paper,
Germany have an ominous
aged and that emphasis should be placed on
II Popolo d'Italia, has aroused
ring. In one case three Jewish
increases wherever they can be secured, and - merchants
a good deal of surprise and
of Polish national-
that as large a working force as possible , ity had been brought before a indignation among those who
should be enrolled to strive for the maximum Berlin city court. The details still refuse to admit the resurg-
goal. Local needs must be cared for. Our of the case are of no interest, ence of Italian fascism. The
schools, our health and social service agen- but the following statement in
cies can not be ignored and must not be the sentence is worth record- event, however, is only the
abandoned. Since, under existing conditions, ing. "The three defendants most striking of a number of
allocations must be increased locally, the are Jewish merchants of Polish similar happenings in recent
nationality. . . One of the
days. The list of journalists
support we give to Israel will depend upon aggravating
c i r cum stances
who were practicing Fascists in
our expanded campaigning.
against the defendants is the
The goal we have set, in the best inter- fact that they are foreigners. the Mussolini era is already a
ests of Israel and our local causes, can and As such they enjoy the hospi- long one. Messaggero, Rome's
undoubtedly will be attained—provided there tality of Berlin and they haVe most popular daily, is headed
is no slackening in work and in giving and badly abused it. . . . Also to be by Mario Missiroli, one of fasc-
considered aggravating is the
especially if we will join hands to create a
ism's so-ca Ile d intellectual
fact that the defendants are
larger working force for the 1952 drive.
leaders, the author of "L'Uomo
Hamisha Asar b'Shvat
Revert to Reaction on Two Fronts
,
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jezvish Chronicle
commencing with issue of July 20,1951
Member: American Association of English-Jewish News-
papers, Michigan Press Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing
Co. David Stott Bldg., Detroit 26, Mich., W0.5-1155.
Subscription $4 a year; foreign $5.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6., 1942 at Post Office,
Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ, Editor
SIDNEY SHMARAK, Advertising Manager
FRANK SIMONS, City Editor
• • •
Civil Liberties Under
Attack': Noted Scholars'
Repudiation of Hysteria
'
Jews." In the second case the
widow of Colonel Count Marog-
na-Redwitz was informed by
the Bureau of Finance in Mun-
ich that her pension was to
be stopped because her hus-
band had been sentenced to
death for high treason — the
Colonel had been involved in
the unsuccessful attempt to
overthrow Hitler in July, 1944.
This is apparently still consid-
ered a major crime by German
justice in the year 1952. Those
who remember the anti-demo-
cratic decisions of German
courts and administrative au-
thorities under the Weimar Re-
public will surely feel: this is
where we came in.
Mussolini," a minor "Mein
Kampf." On La Stampa are
the Fascist journalists Giulo de
Benedetti and Paolo Monelli.
Signoretti is editor of Roma,
an important Naples daily.
Other newspapers and maga-
zines, the press services, and
the radio stations employ doz-
ens of former Fascists. It is
hardly too much to say that
outside the small and finan-
cially weak left and liberal
papers, the best journalistic
plums in Italy today drop into
the hats of those who can prove
an impeccable pro-Fascist past.
It did not take long.
Hysterical fear of exaggerated dangers to
America from foreign sources, especially Russia,
have placed our civil liberties in serious danger.
Our freedoms are at stake. A group of noted
scholars - therefore have joined forces to warn
the country against this menace and to. appeal
for mobilization of sentiment in defense of the
American ideals of liberty, justice and fair play.
"Civil Liberties Under Attack" is the title of
the volume, published by the University of Penn-
sylvania Press (3436 Walnut St., Philadelphia 4),
in which are incorporated a series of lectures
delivered at Swarthmore College. Prof. Clair
Wilcox is the editor of the volume. The parti6-
pants are Prof. Henry Steele Commager, Colum-
bia University; Prof. Robert K. Carr, Dartmouth
College; Prof. Zechara.iah Chaffee, Jr., Harvard
University; Prof. Walter Gellhorn, Columbia;
Judge .Curtis Bok, Philadelphia Dr. James P.
Baxter, president, Williams College.
Courageously fearless, these men did not
„stint words. They spoke firmly for the.-idea of
liberty. Thus, Prof. Commager: "We do not
protect freedom in order to indulge error. We
protect freedom in order to discover truth. We
do not maintain freedom in order to permit
eccentricity to flourish; we maintain freedom
in order that society may profit from criti-
cism, even eccentric criticism. We do not en-
courage dissent for sentimental reasons, we
encourage dissent because we cannot live
without it."
Dr. Commager points to. a new doctrine, a
new danger: "For the first time in our history,
the principle of voluntary association is seriously
jeopardized by the dbctrine of guilt by associa-
tion."
*
Dr. Carr favors federal action in attaining
civil rights. He shows the fallacies of the op-
ponents and declares that "it is inevitable that
a people should attempt to use the high moral
tone of the whole society in dealing with the
wayward tendencies of its parts. -
"The only way to preserve 'the existence
of free American institutions' is to make free
institutions a living force. To ignore them in
the very process of purporting to defend them,
as frightened men now urge, will leave us
little worth defending," is the assertion of •
Prof. Chafee. Warning of the dangers in the
McCarran Act, he refers to the'new policy
of punishing offenses before they are com-
mitted without knowing that they ever will be
committed."
Prof. Chafee challenges to thinking and to
action with these additional declarations while
discussing the FBI's share in checking on Presi-
dential appointments: "A nation has indeed
gone far away from the ideals of the Philadel-
phia Convention of 1787 when the loyalty of its
President is so distrusted by its legislature that
the elected representatives of the people get
guidance from the secret police. In such a pass,
what can calm patriots do? I see little hope for
an early repeal ,of the McCarran Act, but we
can hold up the hands of the President, Mr.
McGrath, and the control board if they admin-
ister the registration provisions with a wise dis-
cretion, so as to interfere as little as its terms
permit with the free flow of thought."
• Judge Bok's brilliant analysis of censorship
of the arts further enriches this thought-pro-
voking libertarian work. "Deserving liberty," he
declares; "is a very difficult business, merely
having it is easy and comfortable. One of its
main tenets is that we live without fear; when we
can do that we will have begun to be free men."
Then there is the concluding address on
"Freedom in Education" in which Prof. Baxter
excoriates Communism and exposes all its
dangers to free thought. • In doing that, he
also shows the threats to our liberties in
"thought control" and "guilt by association."
"To my way of thinking," he declared, "Rus-
sia's destruction of freedom in education holds
a twofold lesson. for us in America. First, we
cannot permit the state to define truth for
American scholars. And second, we cannot
permit Americans who accept the Communist
doctrine that party interests come ahead of
scientific truth to hold membership in the
goodly company of scholars."
In its entirety, these lectures, under the tell-
ing. title "Civil Liberties Under Attack," are a
great contribution to the quest for justice and
the determination to defend our freedoms. As
long as such words are spoken, as long as a
great institution like the University of- Pennsyl-
vania Press will publish them, we can feel more
at ease that our rights will be protected and
that the true American ideals will emerge un-
scathed as soon as the McCarrans and the Mc-
Carthys can be stopped in their tracks in the
evil work they have begun.
Facts You Should Know:
Is it- against the JeWish law to "tattoos
one's skin?
This is expressly prohibited in the Bible
(Lev. 19:28) where is is written: "Ye shall not
Sabbath ScTiptural Selections
make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead;
This Sabbath, the thirteenth day of Shevat,
nor imprint any marks upon you." The com-
5712, the following Scriptural selections will be
mentaries feel that this was an ancient way
read in our synagogues:
of idol worship. In addition thereto it constitutes
Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 13:17-17:16.
the mutilation of the skin and such is prohib-
What
other
comment
do
we
need,
except
to
say
that
Prophetical portion—Judges 4:4-5:31.
ited because a Jew was forbidden to mutilate
Hamisha Asar b'Shvat will be observed on unless we keep watch over the attempts of the nazi-fascists any part of his body. The body is a sacred gift
to gain control in Europe our own liberties may be en- from the Lord and it is our responsibility to keep
Monday.
Licht Benshen Friday, Fels. 8, 5:34 p.m.
dangered?
it well without any harm to it.
Vol. XX—No. 22
Page 4
February 8, 1952