Challenge of Newspaper (Sub)Merger Spiritual Transition Period Tests U. S. • Jewry's Strength By PHILIP SLOMOV I TZ NEW YORK—A newspaper merger, resulting in the disappearance of the only orthodox Yiddish newspaper from the Jewish scene, is causing many responsible leaders to ask pertinent questions regarding American Jewry's spirit- ual future. On Jan. 26, the Jewish Morning Journal went out of business and merged with the Jewish Daily Day—Der Tog. The temporary rescue of the Morning Journal, more than a year ago, with funds that were raised after the Journal had lapsed publishing for several months, came to an end. Funds would have kept it going even now. But more than funds are involved. From the hour of the merger, which in reality is a submerger, the fused daily newspaper will be known as The Day-Morning Journal. But— There is an old. saying that where there is a "but" trouble is brewing. The Morning Journal nominally was a Sabbath and holiday observer—no issues having been dated on tradi- tional Sabbath and holy days. The Day publishes on ALL days except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, As a concession to the orthodox element, whose newspaper has been merged with a non-observant organ, the new paper will be known as The Day-Jewish Morning Journal on all days of the year except those proscribed for publishing, and on the Sabbaths- and holidays it will appear merely as The Day. This is called concession, and it raises the issue of consistency and the involvement of spiritual entanglement. * * * It is clear that more than money—the basic ingredient for publishing—is involved in the new development in Jewish life. There is a radical change in the make-up of the American Jewish community which has reduced the existing daily. news- papers to two—the new Day-Morning Journal and the vastly more secure Jewish Daily Forward. A word about the latter: the Forward, originally a Socialist -- newspaper, more recently a convert to New and Fair Deal poli- ties, has a large reserve fund to work with. It derives security from its radio station—WEVD—named in -tribute to the late Socialist leader Eugene V. Debs. Else, even the Forward's future would be most insecure. It now 'functions only from New York, its Chicago plant was abandoned more than a year ago, and its reader-strength has declined to a minimum. Its one-time 200,000 circulation has shrunk to a third its orig- inal size—serving all Yiddish readers in this country. Even the very large community of New York, with a Jewish population of 2,000,000—to this day the largest Yiddish-speaking center in the world—is unable to contribute more than 50,000 Yiddish readers to the one-time powerful Socialist organ. International Body To Aid Movement Of Jews to Israel GENEVA, (JTA)—The Inter- governmental Commit tee for European Migration — successor organization ec) the Internation- al Refugee Organization an- nounced a new agreement with the Israel government to assist in the movement of Jewish ref- ugees from Europe to Israel. The agreement sets up two categories of Jewish refugees eligible for assistance: those. who have left their country of citizenship in Europe on or after January 1, 1953, and have _ ar- rived in France or Italy en route to Israel; and refugees whose establishment in Europe "has been found impossible" and who now wish to be moved to Israel for permanent resettle- ment there. The accord will cover the movement of 2,000 Jewish refu- gees to Israel. It makes provi- sion, however, "should circum- stances warrant it," for a new agreement prior to the termina- tion of the present one. Mapam Decides to Expel Communist Dr. Moshe Sneh TEL AVIV, (JTA) — The ex- pulsion of Dr. Moshe Sneh and his associates from the, leftist Mapam Party because of their extreme pro-Soviet orientation was decided upon at a meeting of the party's steering commit- tee. It is expected to be ap- proved by the party council, which has the last word on party affairs. Two members of the Com- munist Party in Israel were ousted from the board of the Association of Immigrants from Bulgaria on the ground that "they are not Zionists." And so—except' for the discredited Communist organ the Freiheit—the third Yiddish daily in America—whose circula- Spellman Calls Soviet tion is far below the 10,000 number,.there is one other Yiddish daily, whose CLAIMED circulation is 45,000 for the Morning Anti-Semitism 'Appalling' Journal and 55,000 for the Day, with a future merged figure ROME, (JTA) — Francis Car- totally in the ,unpredictable class. What future is there for Yiddish? The Yiddish theater is dead. The Yiddish newspaper is dying. Only a few optimists remain in the Yiddishists' ranks. The language that once pro- vided strength for Jewish causes and for cultural movements is disappearing so rapidly that even its shadow is unrecognizable. On top of it, Hebrew, the foundation for Jewish spiritual living, is not progressing and its press is limited to a weekly with a limited circulation and a monthly that reaches very few homes. The medium for Jewish cultural and spiritual developments /6, clearly, the English language. - Fortunately, the English-Jew- WI weeklies are progressing. They are reaching the children of the former Yiddish readers and the majority of the Yiddishists themselves. Yet, there is concern over the future developments in Jewish life because of the uncertainty of the transition period. In the pre-transition era, Jewish leadership derived inspiration from memories that . stemmed from the Old World and from Sacred lore. Both sources have dried up and young American Jewry must create its own reservoir of strength for self-development. What shape will' it assume? Will it gather strength to be able to labor without regard of the influence of old forces? * * * While only time can provide the answer, the loyalists to Jewish traditions and the yearners for Jewish survival are worried over the future. Some openly fear deterioration. Many believe that we are facing an era of total assimilation. The rise in intermarriage is an additional mounting danger. Another cause for fear is the bad taste that is left in the systems of young Jews by the emphasis on fund-raising in Jewish life. All our activities have centered for some time in the gathering of money for relief. When there was the dream- ideal of . Israel, it was much easier to reach the hearts of young American Jewry. The mere money appeal has now lost its force. Now, new methods must be found of retaining Jewish loyalties, and of building devotion that has declined with the smashing of the chains that previously kept the older generation linked to the destroyed European Jewish Communities. There are very real dangers also on the fund-raising front. Many are worried that the continuing reduction of income for the major fund—the UJA—may reach a new low in the event that too many people will insist upon unloading Israel bonds as payments for the UJA gifts. If that happens—so fear the observ- ers—there will be calamity both for bonds and .UJA. Our concern may have been couched in overly-gloomy terms. Surely the optimist retains a place in Jewish life— and the optimist says there are enough loyalists to defy the cal- loused and the indifferent. dinal Spellman, prior to - his de- parture for the United States, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency here that the Soviet ac- cusations against the Jewish doctors in Moscow were - "ap- palling." Russians Ship Jewish Officers To Moscow in Sealed Trains LONDON, (JTA) — Some 50 Jewish officers serving with the Soviet forces in Germany have been sent back to Moscow in sealed trains, it was reported from Berlin. Orders to "elimi- nate" Jewish doctors in the Soviet Union and in Eastern Europe have been traced to Mar- shal Stalin, the London Daily Sketch reported. Yeshiva to Ordain 100 Rabbis Semicha, the highest degree in Jewish theological learning, will be conferred upon some 100 rabbis—graduates of Yeshiva Uni- versity's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, the oldest of its kind in the country—March 8. The exercises are held once every three years on the yahrzeit of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan -(left) revered as the greatest rabbi of the 19th century in whose honor the School was named upon its establishment in 1897. Dr. Bernard Revel (center), first president of the school, spear- headed a broad academic expansion program that saw the addition to the Seminary of an academic high school, Teachers Institute and the first College of Arts and Sciences in the world under Jew- ish auspices. Dr. Samuel Belkin (right) became president in 1943. Dramatic Religious Documents Stirring Disputations Between Jews and Christian Accusers An American Jewish Press Feature Disputations between Christians and Jews in public assem- blies in the 13th and 15th centuries echoed the tragedies of the days when it was possible for Christian accusers and their co- horts—Jews who had abandoned their faith—to challenge Jewish leaders to debates in an effort to place Judaism in disrepute, or to formulate charges that Jews were maligning the religion of the majority, and in the process to attempt to force mass con version upon Jews. - While the recorded disputations are a matter of record, they. have not been easily available to the English reader, until the appearance this month of Dr. Morris Braude's "Conscience on Trial," published by Rxposition Press (386 4th, N.Y. 16). The author, a Chicago physician, whose previous works dealt with psychiatric questions, incorporated in his book, in addition to the scholarly introduction, the texts of three public religious disputa- tions. The arguments formulated in them on matters involving basic christological issues, especially with reference to Jesus and the Jewish viewpoint on the Messiah, are valuable for all time. In areas where religious bigotry still raises its ugly head and where charges smacking of medievalism are repeated against Jews, these documents are as enlightening today, and as truth- revealing, as they were 400 and 500 years ago. Tortosa, Paris and Barcelona are the scenes of the disputa- tions. In English translation, the texts are like parchments pluck. ed from fire • and rescued for all generations to read and to be witnesses to the immense dramas of past centuries. The wise Queen Blanche, mother of St. Louis, King,of France; the King of Aragon and Antipope Benedict XIII are among the Christian -characters in the dramatis personae. Geronimo de Santa Fe, Nicolas Donin and- Pablo Christiani are the apostate Jews who attempted to revile and defame the Talmud. Moses Nachmanides, Rabbi Yechiel of Paris and Yom-Tov Lipmann Muhlhausen were the chief Jewish characters. They pre- sented a powerful defense and, while it was hopeless to expect perpetual peace even after their splendid analyses of the truth, their disputations go down on record as among the greatest con- tributions to Jewish apologetics. Dr. Braude, who formerly taught psychiatry in the Univer- sity of Illinois College of Medicine and now is in private practice in Chicago, has rendered great service with his English transla- tion of the disputations. His publication of the famous Wagen- seil texts of the debates, and the commentaries upon them, en- rich our knowledge through an important addition to English Judaica. On the Record By NATHAN ZIPRIN (Copyright 1952, Seven Ails Feature Syndicate) On the Anti-Semitic Front Approximately 300 reactionaries representing seven European countries met early in January at a secret meeting in Paris where they planned formation of a new anti-Semitic international coali- tion with offices in France, Sweden, Italy, West Germany, Belgium, England and Spain. The bloc intends using the anti-Semitic motif as a drawing card in its campaign to rid Europe of what it calls American "domination and enslavement." This information was revealed by Zachariah Shuster, European director of the American Jewish Committee, and it serves to throw much light on the myStery- behind Moscow's reversion to Hitlerism. The un- scrupulous Kremlin bosses have now found new friends and allies in their cold war against the United States and it was but inevita- ble that with such bed-fellows Moscow and its satellites should sacrifice Jews to the Neo-Nazi wolves. Expediency is the key behind Moscow policy. When expediency dictated it the Kremlin made a covenant with Hitler which was later brazenly dedicated by Molotov as a tie of blood. Now that there is a resurgence of anti-Semitism in Germany, Soviet Russia and its satellites are not naturally averse to linking hands with the neo-Nazis. Since the Kremlin has taken the deliberate risk of world censure and alien- ation of fringe liberal elements, it must be assumed that the forces it has chosen to placate are more powerful than it seems on the surface. But the questions posed--,by the disappearance of the Yiddish newspapers (at one time there were Yiddish dailies in Chicago, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit—in addition to FOUR in New York City!), the decline in educational standards, the reduction in incoming campaign funds, the increase in asshn- llatory tendencies, the indifference to traditional practices— Potpourri - are real challenges to American Jewry. The forthcoming ZOA dinner in celebration of Dr. Abba Hillel - - Where is our transition leading us? must we depend only CM time to provide the answer to the question?' The American scene offers many opportunities for real serv- ice by the new type of Ameridan Jew—the English-speaking de- fender of a great heritage, But to attain a constructive status, our leaders, if they are to retain their leadership, must find new ways of strengthening a position that is changing. The old order is deteriorating. The new one •must he more sound.. Who will lead us in the right direction.? Israel Rabbinate Pleads Against Raising of Pigs JERUSALEM, (JTA)—The Is- arel Chief Rabbinate issued a new appeal against the raising and selling of pigs in Israel. Posters have been plastered up in various parts of the country to "cast out" hog raising: Ben- jamin Mintz, Poale. Agudah de- puty, introduced a motion in Parliament to ban hog raising. (Inn - South Africa, the Trans- vaal Federation af Synagogues adopted a resolution protesting the unrestricted sale of pork in Israel.) Israel Painting 'Jerusalem To Be in Truman Museum INDEPENDENCE, Mo., (JTA) —A painting "The Holy - City of Jerusalem" by the Israeli paint- er Myron Sima will be placed in the Truman Museum - here. The painting. was presented :to Mr. Truman in Washington a day before he left the White House in behalf of a committee of prominent American art .lovers and friends of Israel interested_ in cementing cultural relations Silver's 60th birthday may prove a turning point for the organ- ization. People close to the ZOA say Rabbi Silver will deliver not only one of the Most dynamic addresses in his life but a plan he hopes will restore unity within the movement ... To the best of my knowledge, the American Council of Judaism so far has failed between the United States and to register any protest , against the anti-Semitic manifestations in Israel. Russia and the satellite states. The Council conceivably is on the horns of a dilemma. But is its bitterness against Zionism so sleep ZO — THE JEWISH NEWS iFriclay, January 30, 1953 that it cannot distinguish between the wolf and the sheep? 1