Reform Rabbis Oppose School Prayers,
Discuss Israel's Impact on Jews in U. S.
BUFFALO, N.Y., (JTA) — The
impact of Israel on the Ameri-
can Jew was discussed here at
the 63rd annual convention of
the Central Conference of
American Rabbis, which repre-
sents the spiritual leaders of
Reform Judaism in this country
and Canada.
Rabbi Philip S. Bernstein, who
delivered the presidential report,
said that while Israel will con-
tinue to serve as inspiration to
Jews throughout the world, the
American Jewish community as
a whole "has the right and the
duty to maintain its life here."
He added that "there need be no
conflict, but mutual fruitifica-
tion." He pleaded for support of
Israel by American Jews
Rabbi Bernstein sharply de-
nounced the current threats of
thought control, intimidation,
guilt by smear and association
in this country. He called upon
liberals to "resist this repression
with clear mind and with un-
daunted heart." He stressed
that the American people must
adhere to "freedom of thought
and speech, the cross-fertiliza-
tion of ideas, the exploration of
new ways."
The convention went on
record opposing the recom-
mendation made by the 'New
York Board of Regents that
every school day begin with a
non-sectarian pr aye r. The
introduction of such a prayer
may lead to further encroach-
ment upon the principle of
separation of church and
state, the Conference empha-
sized.
The cony ention denounced
what it called a "virulent cam-
paign against the public
schools." Endorsing the report of
the Committee and Church and
State of the Central Conference
of American Rabbis, the conven-
tion criticized the "wild allega-
tions of subversion of self-
appointed vigilantes, mounting
irresponsible— criticism of text-
books, the familiar and fright-
ening techniques of w i t c h-
hunting and book burning, in-
timidation by super-patriots and
pressure - from the sincerely mis-
guided and uninformed, suspi-
-
cions and insinuations which
would confine genuine, earnest
disagreement into signs of crisis
and conflict."
Dr. Nelson Glueck, president
of the Hebrew Union College,
Jewish Institute of Religion,
said that the Reform Judaism
does not believe in the union of
church and state in America and
"finds it no more palatable" in
Israel than in the United
States.
Rabbi Joshua Trachtenberg,
of New York, who recently re-
turned from Israel reported that
Israel "needs not American Ju-
daism as we know it here." He
said that Israel by "its own in-
digenous, authentic, re - state-
ment of the eternal truths of
our faith, in a vocabulary which
can reach the hearts of the
people," can revolutionize "the
spiritual life in Israel."
Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman of
Milwaukee, former head of the
organization's institute in Israel,
said that continued support of
the infant state by American
Jews" "is still of prime neces-
sity."
Rabbi Joseph- L. Fink of Buf-
falo was elected president of the
Central Conference. He succeeds
Dr. Philip Bernstein of Roches-
ter, N.Y. Rabbi Fink welcomed
increasing manifestations of
unity and coop-
eration on mat-
ters- of mutual
interest among
Reform, Ortho-
dox and Con-
servative rabbis.
A resolution on
Israel approved
by the confer-
ence commend-
ed the new state
on its "mighty Rabbi Fink
achievements in the four years
since its establishment," and ap-
plauded "the sacrificial idealism
of the young nation in absorb-
ing 700,000 new immigrants in
this short time despite its own
grave trials and privations."
It further praised Israel for
providing medical, social and
educational services for all in-
habitants of the land whether
Jewish, Arab or Christian. ;
Reporters and reviewers have learned
to' exercise restraint in using descrip-
tive words like "extraordinary" and "re-
markable." It is too easy to go to ex-
tremes through careless misuse of these
terms. But a teen-ager has emerged
posthumously so remarkable in her de-
scription of what happened to her and
her family under Nazi rule in Holland,
that Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt used
‘1•55••••••,••••:
iba glitil""1"4" •••••••••••••
3...-.-''
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the word in her commendation. And the
publishers call the book "an extraordi-
nary document of adolescence."
After reading "Anne Frank: The
,Diary of a Young Girl" this reviewer
fit
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Harry Cohen Receives
Hebrew Schools' Plaque
HARRY COHEN is shown
receiving the plaque presented
to him on behalf of the United
Hebrew Schools by MRS. JO-
SEPH H. -EHRLICH in recogni-
tion of his 30 years of service
to the schools and the corn-
munity. The presentation was
made at the annual dinner of
the schools, on June 10.
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.
'Coercive Laws on Discrimination
Injure Equality Fight'—Eisenhower
General Dwight D. Eisen-
hower declared last week "no
true American, no American
worthy of his name, would want
deliberately to exclude another
American from full opportunity
tt. enjoy every right guaranteed
him under the Constitution."
"If he does, there is something
wrong, and we must get at it."
General Eisenhower visited
Detroit in an attempt to- win
over the 46 Michigan delegates
to the Republican National Con-
vention. In his Olympia Stadium
address, the former supreme
European commander empha-
sized that equality is a basic
concept in the American system
of government.
But. warned Eisenhower, we
must be careful never to use a
coercive law when we might
aggravate instead of help to ad-
vance the program of pure
equality of opportunity in this
country.
In a Sunday morning press
conference, Eisenhower was
asked whether he favored coer-
cive state laws to bring about
equality of opportunity. The
general replied, "Each state law
must be something that ade-
quately meets the situation In
that state. Like the Federal
government, the states must be
forward-looking and do every-
thing within their power to ad-
vance equality."
On the problem of German
rearmament, General Eisen-
hower admitted that a "fascist
party has gathered a certain
amount of strength."
"Yet if we proceed rapidly and
efficently in the formation of a
European Army, there is not the
slightest danger of Germany
browbeating the rest of the na-
tions in the West. We must or-
ganize the free nations of the
West to resist the aggressive
aims of the Soviet Union—and
this must of necessity include
the rearming of Western Ger-
many."
Eisenhower refused to discuss
the McCarran Immigration Bill,
termed by its critics as "rascist
and discriminatory." "I cannot
comment on what I would do
were I President because, to be
honest, I am not at all acquaint-
ed with the details of this act."
Major Jewish organizations
have called upon the Republi-
can and Democratic parties to
take effective steps to prevent
the injection of religious and
racial bigotry into the impend-
ing political campaign.
The American Jewish Corn-1
mittee, American Jewish Con-
gress, Bnai Brith, Jewish Labor
Committee, Jewish War Veter-
ans, and Union of American-1
Hebrew Congregations and 27
local Jewish community coun-
cils, which together comprise
the National Community Rela-
tions Advisory Council, jointly
sent identical leters to the
chairmen of the Republican
and Democratic National Com-
mittees.
These letters; signed by Irving
Kane, NCRAC chairman, urged
the major parties to "scrupu-
lously avoid the use of appeals
to class. racial, or religious
prejudice" and to repudiate the
support of fringe groups who
"are not above using such
methods."
The political parties were re-
quested publicly Vo declare their
abhorrence of the use of bigotry
in election campaigning and to
instruct their local affiliates se--
cot-di rrely.
Reports that racial and re-
ligious bigotry already have
been injected into some of the
primary contests had given rise
to anxiety, the Jewish organiza-
tions told the political party
chairmen.
Identical letters were sent to
Frank McKinney and Guy Ga-
brielson, the two party chair-
men.
By MAX SIMON
Jewish News Staff Correspondent
UN Issues Human
Rights Day Stamp Political Parties Cautioned Against
UNITED NATIONS, N. Y., Religions, Race Bigotry in Campaigns
(JTA)—United Nations Secre-
tary General Trygve Lie has ap-
proved the design for a UN
postage stamp commemorating
the Universal Declaration of Hu-
man Rights, the UN postal ad-
ministration a n n o u nced. The
stamps, in three and five cent
denominations, will be issued on
Human Rights Day, Dec. 10.
1952.
Dr. Goldman On Baltimore -
Inter-Relations Commission
BALTIMORE, (JTA) — Rabbi
Israel M. Goldman, a member of
the Governor's Commission on
Inter-Racial Relations, took of-
fice this week as vice chiirman
of the newly created Commis-
sion on Human Relations for the
city of Baltimore. Dr. Goldman
is rabbi of Chizuk Amuno Con-
gregation here.
Anne Frank's 'Extraordinary Document of
Adolescence': Most Remarkable Book of Our Time
unhesitatingly uses both terms. Nothing
like it has appeared in print in our
time. It is the product
of a girl who emerges
brilliant as a writer,
wise as an observer,
who sought some one
to confide in and
chose a diary. It be- .
gins on June 14, 1942;
when Anne was 13.
Only three weeks lat-
er, on July 9, 1942,
Anne Frank and her
family and the Van
Daans went into hid- Anne Frank
ing in an old office building in Amster-
dam. The last recorded insert in the
diary, before the eight people who were
hidden for more than two years were
discovered by the Gestapo, who raided
their home, was on Aug. 1, 1944. Two
months before the liberation of Holland,
in March 1945, Anne died in the Ber-
gen-Belsen concentration camp. Of the
eight who were in hiding for more than
two years, only Anne's father survived
death at the hands of the Nazis.
Anne's diary was found among the
rubbish in the house i n which she was
hidden, after the war. It was published
in Dutch in 1947 under the title "Het
Achterhuis," referring to the part of
the building in which the group was
hiding. In the English translation by
B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday, it is called
"Secret Annexe." A photograph of the
abandoned building in which Anne wrote
her diary is reproduced here, together
with the photograph of Anne which also
was found with her diary.
"The young are not afraid of telling
the truth," Mrs. Roosevelt states in her
commendation of this "remarkable
book." Full realization of the truth of
this statement comes with a reading of
Anne's story. Only the calloused will be
able to put the book down for too long
a time without reading on and on until
the book is finished; and the emotion
that accompanies the reading of this
great, book will leave few eyes dry.
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g•Afk•S••••••••
JEWISH NEWS
Friday, June 20, 1952
Commentary
Purely
t
2—THE
The amazing thing about the book is
that it is not all sad, that this youngster
had a feeling for humor that stemmed
from her keen sense of observation.
On May 3, 1944, she recorded inter-
esting reactions to what was happening
to her, her family, her fellow-sufferers,
the world. They were in grave danger,
they were herded together, often in fear
of a raid, using-one pottie in a single
room until the threat from the outside
disappeared. Under such circumstances
she defied despair, thus:
"I don't believe that the big men,
the politicians and the capitalists
alone, are guilty of the war. Oh no,
the little man is just as guilty, other-
wise the peoples of the world would .
have risen in revolt long ago! There's
in people simply an urge to destroy,
an urge to kill, to murder and rage,
and until all mankind, without ex-
ception, undergoes a great change,
wars will be waged, everything that
has been built up, cultivated, and
crown will be destroyed and disfigured,
after which mankind will have to be-
gin all over again.
"I have often been downcast, but
never in despair; I regard our hiding
as a dangerous adventure, romantic
and interesting at the same time. In
my diary I treat all the privations as
amusing. I have made up my mind
now to lead a different life from other
girls and, later on, different from or-
dinary housewives. My start has been
so very full of interest, and that is the
sole reason why I have to laugh at the
humorous side of the most dangerous
moments.
"I am young and I possess many
buried qualities; I am young and
strong and am living a great adven-
ture; I am still in the midst of it and
can't grumble the whole day long. I
have been given a lot, a happy nature,
and -
-
a great deal of Cheerfulness
strength. Every day I feel that I am
developing inwardly, that the libera-
tion is drawing nearer and how beau-
tiful nature is, how good the people
are about me, how interesting this ad-
By Philip
Slomovitz
venture is! Why, then, should I be is
despair?"
It is natural that Anne should
speak of her Jewishness: "We Jews must
be braveand strong, must accept all
inconveniences and not grumble. must
do what, is within our power and trust
in God. Sometimes this terrible war will
be over. Surely the time will come when
we are people again, and not just Jews."
And she reaches another philosophical
conclusion, in the longest entry in her
diary, under date of April 11, 1944, when
she and her group were in greatest
danger, during a robbery in the ware-
house of their building, which brought
police to the scene:
"If we bear this suffering and if
there are still Jews left, when it it
over, then Jews, instead of being
doomed, will be held up as an example.
Who knows, it might even be our re-
ligion from which the world and all
peoples learn good, and for that res.- "
son and that reason only do we have
to suffer now. We can never become
just Netherlanders, or just English, or
representatives of any country for that
matter, we will always remain Jews,
but we want to, too.
"Be brave! Let us remain aware of
our task and not grumble, a solution
will come. God has never deserted our
people. Right through the ages there
have been Jews, through all the ages
they have had to suffer, but it has
made them strong too; the weak fall,
but the strong will remain and never
go under!"
There is a love story. Anne and the
Van Daans' son Peter fell deeply in love.
They confided in one another. At one
point—youth is not afraid of truth—
Anne tells Peter about a woman's phy-
sical make-up. There are other conft-
dences. But this is the Genius of this
most remarkable book: its confidences
that are mixed with sincerity brilliantly
recorded.
"Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young
Girl" will be viewed as a very great book
long after many best sellers are kw-
gotten.
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