The New 'Haman'
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.,
Subscription S4 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 and Publisher
Vol. XXII—No. 25
WO. 154155.
StIDNEY SHMARAK
FRANK SIMONS
Advertising Manager
City Editor
February 27, 1953
Page 4
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the thirteenth dav of . Adar, 5713, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Es. 27:20-30:10: Prophetical portion, Ezek. 43:10-27.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Feb. 27,
5:23 p.m.
Purim: A Lesson for Anti-Semites of All Ages
There is magnificent truth in the Mid-
rashic admonition, that in days to come all
Jewish festivals may be abandoned, but
Purim will be observed endlessly.
Perhaps the meaning of this augury is
to be found in the world events we are ex-
periencing in our own generation. Less than
10 years ago, we thought we had witnessed
the end of Hitlerism. We imagined that Ham-
anism had disappeared, that prejudice was
evaporating, that discrimination was on the
downgrade.
But in the last few months we were giv-
en warning from Moscow not to expect the
apparently impossible. We learned that Hit-
ler's "Mein Kampf" still exists, that Joseph
Stalin has taken some of its most tyrannical
ideas and has adopted them for use by Com-
munist countries whose rulers are under his
thumb.
*
*
*
We had asked: how is this possible in our
enlightened age? But the impossible is a
non-existent term in the vocabulary of bigots
and tyrants. Our sages knew it. They sensed
the recurrence of human hatreds. They were
not guessing when they predicted that the
one festival that will survive in Jewish life
will be Purim, whose basic greatness—albeit
it is a minor festival—lies in its celebration
of Jewry's triumph over bigotry.
When Stalin's ugly anti-Semitism made
itself felt in recent weeks, first in Czecho-
slovakia, then in -Hungary and Romania, and
in Russia proper, where fantastic charges
were hurled at Jewish doctors who were ac-
cused of plotting to destroy the lives of Com-
munist leaders, the Detroit Free Press' able
columnist and editorial director, Malcolm W.
Bingay, warned the Soviet tyrants that they
are doomed for destruction, since no one who
has sought to destroy Israel has ever sur-
vived. This may well be read into the Purim
lesson and the Midrashic prophecy: bigotry
may always exist, but the bigots who seek
to exterminate the _Jews will themselves
perish.
* , *
*
The Soviet myths that have been put into
play as weapons against Jews, although they
prefer to speak of Zionists and Israelis who
are fantastically accused of espionage, are
indications that Stalin's intention is to put
into practice Hitler's maSor aspiration: the
extermination of Jewry. These dictators
have overlooked a basic historical fact: that
the Hamans never triumph; that while they
may have temporary victories, they are
doomed by the inevitable: the indestructibili-
ty of Israel.
There is added tragedy for Jewry in the
fact that Jewish renegades, men like Ehren-
burg. and Rakosi, played the Communist
game for the destruction of their own kins-
men. Most of these renegades were them-
selves purged. And in the end, Stalin's castles
are certain to crumble. That is the verdict
of history.
*
*
*
This idea heartens us this Purim, as it did
in the Purims of yesteryears. We are faced
with tragedies, but we shall overcome them
as we have those of Haman and Chmielnicki
and Petlura and Hitler—with Stalin next on
the list of the repudiated bigots.
It is well to remember this unwritten law
in history as we exchange "Happy purim"
greetings this week-end.
A Literary Contribution to American Democracy
One of American Jewry's major cultural
projects, the Jewish Publication Society, has
been enriched by the $150,000 fund for the
establishment of the Jacob R. Schiff Li-
brary of Jewish contributions to American
Democracy.
Long delayed, the publication society now
will be in position to publish biographies of
great Jews and the histories of Jewish corn-
mtmities whose backgrounds are not too well
known but whose gifts to American democ-
racy are indelible marks in the creation of
our way of life.
Judge Louis E. Levinthal, president of
the society, justifiably rejoiced over the es-
tablishment of the new fund. Every publish-
ing effort, whether private or public, strug-
gles most regrettably in this land. In spite
of some optimistic claims, too few of our
people—undoubtedly not unlike the number
among other groups—are book purchasers,
and too few read Jewish classics, as they
should.
While the establishment of a new fund
does not necessarily guarantee an increase in
the categories of book readers and buyers,
the new areas that this fund is to invade
should serve to encourage increased interest
in American Jewish history and in American
Jewish leadership.
The Jewish Publication Society has
earned the support it is receiving from new
quarters. It is worthy of a larger member-
ship than it enjoys today. The new fund es-
tablished by the Jacob R. Schiff Charitable
Trust Committee should encourage similar
gifts from other quarters.
It is well to remember that the Jewish
Publication Society has made it possible for
the Graetz History of the Jews to appear in
an English translation that was prepared
more than 40 years ago by the late.Henrietta
Szold; that the society pioneered in publish-
ing outstanding Jewish classics; that it un-
dertook to introduce to the world the genius
of Israel Zangwill, whose "Tragedies of the
Ghetto it published more than 50 years ago;
that it undertook the gigantic task of pro-
ducing an important translation of the Bible
by outstanding Jewish scholars.
All of the efforts of the Jewish Publica-
tion Society are in a sense contributions to
American democracy, by the very nature of
their literary significance and their creative-
ness. It is urgent that support for the Jewish
Publication Society should be considered a
basic part of Jewish constructive efforts in
this country.
The 'Cold War' : The Time for Action
The "cold war" is on in full force and
once again Jews as a group, feel impelled to
protest against injustice, to call upon the
civilized world to rise up against prejudice,
to mobilize the sentiments of democratic
peoples against oppression.
It is discouraging to be admonished that
we must again cry out in protest against
tyrants before it is too late. We are told
that unless we raise our voices in protest we
may fail in our task of saving Jives. We had
come to believe that the rebirth of Israel
has put an end to the need for protest meet-
ings. But Israel herself is in danger and our
responsibilities are staggering.
Charm of the Animal Kingdom
Dr. Konrad Z. Lorenz's book, "King Solomon's Ring," is a
intriguing as the sound of the title. Translated from the German,
illustrated by the author, published by Thomas Y. Crowell Co.
(432 4th, NY 16), this book about birds, animals and fishes has
the merit of instruction in a generally little-known field, of en-
tertainment, of moral lessons.
There is genuine charm on every page of this volume, and
if it were only for the very many of the author's illustrations
alone, the book would stand out as a fine contribution to animal
lore. A deserving tribute to the author and his work is contained
in Julian Huxley's foreword.
Dr. Lorenz appropriately commences his studies with Rud-
yard Kipling's-
"There never was a icing like Solomon
Not since the world began •
Yet Solomon talked to a butterfly
As a man would talk to a man."
Asserting with assurance that the truth about nature is even
more convincing than the poets see it, Dr. Lorenz introduces us to
the subject of understanding birds and animals by quoting I Kings •
iv. 33, where we are told that Solomon "spake also of beasts, and of
fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes." The author states
that the misreading of the text "has given rise to the charming
legend that the king was able to talk the fanguage of animals."
Yet, he writes, "I feel inclined to accept it as a truth; I am quite
ready to believe that Solomon really could do so, even without
the help of the magic which is attributed to him by the legend in
question, and I have good reason for crediting it: I can do it my-,
self, and without the aid of magic."
His knowledge of the "vocabulary" of birds and fishes and
animals is traceable to his knowledge of the animals themselves,
their ways of living, their habits. He resents people visiting zoos
and aquariums who laugh at animals whose bodies deviate froth
the usual. "The public then is deriding things which, to me, are
holy: the riddles of the Genesis, the Creation and the Creator,"
he states.
"King Solomon's Ring" possesses charm, it is factual, it $
heart-warming in the lessons it offers to mankind. • "
Commentary s Noted Essays
na-
tionwide interest in Commentary Magazine, the publication spon-
sored by the American Jewish Committee, forms the text of a
fascinating book, published recently by Knopf under the title
A - portion of the wealth of material that has attracted
"Commentary on the American Scene," The portraits of Jewish
life in this country included in the 20 selections were edited by
Commentary's editor, Elliot E. Cohen. David .Riesman wrote a
scholarly. introduction in which he shows the rapid changes in
American Jewish life and the new conditions .that_ are replacing
old ones.
Readers of Commentary who were intrigued. by Ruth Glazer''
"West Bronx: Food, Shelter, Clothing" and "The Jewish Delicates-
sen" will be pleased. to see the two essays incorporated in this
book.
The other' selections are .valuable as studies of the Jewish
scene and conditions in this country. Especially noteworthy is
Morris Freedman's "The Jewish College Student: New Model."
Freedman's "The New Farmers of Lakewood" is equally valuable.
All the essays are instructive, some entertaining, many of
them possessing great value for the historian and man of research.
•
•
`Modern Jew ish Life in Literature' •
"Modern Jewish Life in Literature" by Dr. Azriel Eisenberg,
executive vice-president of the Jewish Education Committee
New York, has been republished in a revised edition by the United
Synagogue Commission on Jewish Education (3080 B'way, NY27).
As explained by Dr. Eisenberg, this volume is a. combination.
of a literary anthology and a source book. It is an integration of
modern Jewish history through a presentation of dramatic selec-
tions by Jewry's outstanding writers.
Included are the works of the noted writers and scholars of a.iI
times, including the present era. Sholom Aleichem, I. L. Peretz,
Bialik, Solomon Schechter, Schneour, Henrietta Szold, Chaim
Weizmann, Solomon Goldman, Cyrus Adler, and two score other
notables are included in this work.
The five parts of the book begin with "The Old World" and
end with the optimistic "Looking Forward." Sandwiched in axe
"The New World," "Tragic Years" and "The Promised Land."
The bibliographies in each section, the biographical sketches,
the selected material, combine to form a truly fine work that
It is necessary that all who are concern-
ed about the security of peoples should act
together against the gathering foes of hu-
manity. Proper action by our President and
our Congress and the expression of all
Americans against the Communist Threats,
the Moslem menace and other dangers may
avert tragedy. Now is the time to act. Later
invaluable for home reading and for classroom work.
it may be too late.
e