An Editor's Job

THE JEWISH NEWS

Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20. 1951

Member: American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 708-10 David Stott. Bldg., Detroit 26. Mich., WO. 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.

SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager

FRANK SIMONS
City Editor

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher

January 16, 1953

Page 4

Vol. XXII—No. 19

Sabbath Rosh Hodesh Shvat Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the first day of Shvat, 5713, the following Scriptural selections will be read in
our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portions, Ex. 6:2-9:35; Num. 28:9-15; Prophetical portion, Is. 66.

Licht Benshen, Friday, Jan. 16, 5:09 p.m.

Community School: Solution to Education Problem

face new dangers of a diminution of the
present numbers of pupils receiving more
than a two 7 day. training in Jewish his-
tory, language and traditions.
Therefore, we welcome the admonition of
Prof. Berkson and we offer it as a warning,
against complacency or a readiness to ap-
prove of the perpetuation of the present con-
dition of splintered and fragmentized school
systems in our Jewish communities.

"Education should not begin with a party
doctrine or a congregational creed. It -deals
with a living child growing up in. the com-
munity. Men do not constitute a community
merely because of common descent or o f
physical proximity . . . The pi.apose of edu-
cation is to inalce clear to the youth of any
society what they have in common in the
way of interests and ideals. Education includes
the transmission of social heritage of litera-
ture and ideas; it should result in the en-
richment of personality. Both of these aims
are achieved by making the individual a par-
ticipant in the life of the community, a co-
heir of its cultural possessions, a sharer in
its joys, sorrows, and responsibilities.!"

This is a quotation from an address on
"The Community Idea in Jewish Education"
delivered by Prof. Isaac B. Berkson of Drop-
sie College for Hebrew and Cognate Learn-
ing at its Founder's Day ceremonies.
Dr. Berkson struck at the very root of
the problem facing Jewish communities to-
day in planning the Jewish educational pro-
grams. The disappearance of ideological dif-
ferenceg that divided Jewish communities in
the past nevertheless has left us with a heri-
tage of "vested interests" that persists in
plaguing us and in causing difficulty in ce-
menting forces in support of a communal
educational program.
Prior to the establishment of the state
of Israel, differences of opinion hinged pri-
marily on Zionism and anti-Zionism (of late
it has been "non-Zionism") , of Hebraism
and Yiddishism, of traditionalism and irre-
ligion. Many years ago, there were also
atheists and anti-religionists in Jewish ranks.
This group has diminished, nay, it may have
disappeared almost in its entirety. Also, there
no longer are anti-Zionists, and even the
most rabid Yiddishists endorse programs
that include the study of Hebrew. Even the
ranks of the irreligious and non-observant—
it would be unrealistic and a folly on our
part not to recognize their existence—show
a desire to observe Jewish festivals.
Thus, there is general agreement on ma-.
jor educational needs. Nevertheless; we are
splintered on the subject, we have competing
school systems, and we fail to recognize that
if we insist upon tolerating such a state of
affairs we may fail in our major objective:
that of increasing the number of children
who now receive some sort of Jewish educa-
tion in excess of the Sunday school minimum.
As a .matter of fact, if we do not ef-
feet changes in our approaches, we may •

Eternal Light

The current Jewish Theological Seminary
campaign calls .attention to an important ac-
complishment of the Conservative rabbinical
and teachers' schools- in New York aimed. at
evaluating historical, traditional - and cere-
monial functions by means of radio and tele-
vision. Known as the Eternal Light Pro-
grams, now commencing their tenth year of
activities, these functions have rendered a
very real service to American Jewry and to
our Christian neighbors who are interested
in learning the facts about us.
Winner of many awards, including the
Peabody Prize. which is viewed • as the
"Oscar" of the radio industry, the Eternal
Light Program has been broadcast to the
armed forces in Korea and Japan, has been
short-waved by Voice of America to Latin
American countries in Spanish translation
and beamed to Israel in Hebrew. It is car-
ried by 103 NBC network stations, including
WINJ in Detroit, and the Hooper polls claim
for it 7.000,000 weekly listeners.
At present, the Seminary also sponsors
10 Eternal Light television programs as
"Frontiers of Faith." These prOgrams in-
clude "Anne Frank—the Diary of a Young
Girl" and "The World of Sholem. Aleichem."
Eternal Light has become a part of Jew-
ish life in America, and the Seminary. can
rightfully claim to have incorporated an im-
portant Jewish contribution to the entertain-
ment airways with this excellent series of
programs.

We return to Prof. Berkson for addi-
tional guidance. In his Dropsie. College ad-
dress, the eminent educator expresses the
following truths:

"In organizing our course of study and ac-
tivities in the Jewish school, we should not
begin by asking whether it is to be a secular
or religious school, whether its interpretation
of life should be theistic or humanistic. We
should ask whether the subject of study or-
the activity is significant for Jewish life in
any of its manifold aspects; does it enrich
the life of the child, strengthen and enhance
the life of the community? We should emu-
late the idea expressed in the classic phrase
`Nothing human is alien to me'; and say
`Nothing of Jewish interest is foreign to us
in the work of Jewish education.' .
The Jewish school should lay the basis
for Jewish life: it slebuld give all children a
common grounding of Jewish knowledge and
ideas, and of Jewish problems; it should im-
bue the youth with a sense of devotion and
responsibility. It is not the' function of the
Jewish school to make the Zionist, the He-
braist, the Yiddishist, the Orthodoxist, the
Reformist; it should aim to make of the
child 'a good Jew' — to use a common
phrase—the particular interpretation and the
group with which the individual ultimately
affiliates should be a matter of adult choice.
"Jewish education may be defined as a
process of transformation. It is the process
of transforming a person who happens to
have been born a Jew—in itself a physical
event — into a person who remains a Jew
CONSCIOUSLY by reason of his appreciatidn
of the cultural and spiritual values in his
heritage, and by reason of his recognition of
his responsibilities as a participant in the life
and destiny of the community . ."

Haganah Founder Writes Novel
About Bar-Kochba the Liberator

Elias Gilner, one of the 12 founders of the Israel Haganah,
a participant in the Israel struggle for freedom, is the author of
The Prince of Israel," an historical novel of the last Judean war
against the Roman Empire, published by Exposition Press (386
4th Ave., NY16).
"Prince of Israel" closely parallels the events preceding the
emergence of the modern state of Israel. The Roman emperor
Hadrian promised the Israelites that he would - restore the Temple
in Jerusalem. Hadrian not only failed to keep his promise, but
decided to build a temple to Jupiter and Venus. Similarly, Lord
Balfour promised to help the Jews build a national home in
Palestine and, under Bevin, Palestine was practically closed ii10
-
Jewish immigration.
As a teen-ager. Mr. Gilner had to guard his synagogue
against hooligans who wanted to disrupt the services on the
Day of Atonement. It was then that. he began his long fight to
help establish a homeland for the persecuted Jews throughout
the world. In "Prince of Israel" he tells the - story of a great
war for God and . freedom; there are startling similarities be-
tween Bar-Kochba's war of liberation some thirteen hundred
years ago and the recent struggle of the same people against
Fascist tyranny and imperial selfishness.
Defying the might of the Roman Empire under Hadrian, the
small forces of a rebel army of Israelites, first from an "under-
ground" of mountain hideouts and then in open combat, fight
and die for their heritage, for the right to live unshackled.
Bar-Kochba, leader of the uprising, is the son of parents killed
in an earlier rebellion against the Romans. While raising his army,
he comes upon the beautiful, high-spirited Meredya. As quick to
love as to do battle, he woos and wins her for his wife. When the
Roman legionaires abduct his bride after his marriage in order
to allow their commander the "Right of the First Night," Bar-
Kochba decimates their ranks and quickly organizes his forces
against the inevitable retaliation. The war is on, a war which
would lead to two years of freedom only to be followed by ulti-
mate defeat before vastly superior . forces.
- Mr. Gilner's adventures with the Haganah have enabled him
to portray the battle for a homeland from personal experience,.
In 1920, terrorist activities in Palestine became pronounced and
- six men from the Sporting Organization Maccabi established
Haganah (Self-Defense). Early in April of that year the Arab at-
tack came. Mr. Gilner was in command of the protection of one-
fourth of Jerusalem. During the battle, he was captured. Subse-
quently, he was tried and sentenced to three years at hard labor.
Out of his memories of struggle and imprisonment comes this
portrayal . of the stirring enthusiasm of Bar-Kochba and his
Compatriots.
Mr. Gilner is past national commander of the American
Palestine Jewish Legion and a former member of the Municipal.
Council of Haifa: At present he is a member of the executive com-
mittee of the Brooklyn Zionist Region. Among his writing achieve- .:-
ments are "The Voice of Israel" and several other plays, articles •
and stories. He has a married daughter and son and lives with:
his wife, Violet, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. .

It is not easy to yield to transformations.
But it is better to accept them now, willing-
ly, out of a. realization of the existence of
pressures which compel us to recognize the
-need for cooperation on a community basis,
. rather than risk the decline of existing pro-
grams.
Through a unified communal system of
schools, we have an opportunity to attract
more youth. We haVe the basis for such a
system in the United Hebrew Schools. This
established educational movement already
has succeeded in merging with its several
congregational schools. It is faced with the
need of establishing new schools in Detroit's
northwest areas and in Oakland County. Its
.hands shoUld be strengthened in order that
Many hundreds of children now residing in
areas with fairly large . Jewish populations
should be reached and served properly by
well trained staffs of educators.
. There are many problems involved in
our educational systems. The shortage of
teachers is a major issue, and there are other
difficulties. But these can be overcome— H STOR ETTE
provided that there is unity in action and
. r
that advantage is taken of the encourage-
a .
Ancient
Cemetery
Found
in
Haif
ment the Jewish Welfare Federation—the
An American Jewish Press Syndicate Feature
financial sponsor of the school system—is
An ancient burial ground. with three skeletons, believed to be
giving to the idea of a communal school about 3,300 years old has been discovered in the Kishon area, it
system.
was announced recently by Abba Khoushy, Mayor of Haifa, and

.

Mizrachi Strength

Detroit Mizrachi, at the observance of its
39th anniversary next week, will be able to
point to a number of specific accomplish-
ments, chief among them being the ortho-
dox Zionists' effort in behalf of the Israel
bond drive.
This group, whose ranks have grown in re-
cent years, has sold a fourth of all the bonds
in the city. It is- an indication of serious effort
in the economic sphere in support of Israel,
and the Mizrachi leaders deserve heartiest
congratulations for such splendid work.

,

Mr. A. Rosh, curator of the Haifa museum. In one grave, a num-,
ber of large pottery jars were found„ Some of the jars had Covers,
and, it is suggested, may have originally contained food for the
dead.
The graveyard, of the Late Bronze Age, stretches over several
dunams. Two graves were found one and three quarter kilometers
apart, which suggests that settlement of the area Ilks extensive,.
The skeletons are in reasonably good condition. A large bronze
needle for netmaking, of a design used today, was also found on-
the site. It is. believed that the ancient inhabitants of the area
were fishermen.
The site, known as Tel Abu Haman,' had been previously ihn
1922 excavated by R. W. Hamilton, director of the Department
of Antiquities during the Mandatory regime. It was then found
that the upper stratum dates back to the Hellenistic Period of
the third to second centuries B.C.E., and that the area was ilet
inhabited after that period,.

