Smoldering Sparks
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association.
Member
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 708-10 David Stott Bldg., Detroit 26. Mich., WO. 34155.
lgubscription $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 SLONlOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
Vol. XXIII—No. 1
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
Page 4
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
March 13, 1953
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the twenty-seventh day of Adar, 5713, the following Scriptural selections will
be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portions, Er. 35:1-38:20; 30.11-16; Prophetical portion, II Kings 1221 17.
Rosh Hodes* Nisan Scriptural Selection, Tuesday. NUM. 28:1-15.
-
Licht Benshen, Friday, March 13, 5:39 p. m.
OM.
Beware of Recrudescence of Anti-Semitism
/ For a number of • years, Jews had lulled
themselves into a state of complacency, be-
lieving, that a new era had set in for the
world, that prejudice had declined. that
Brotherhood had begun to take root among
all nations.
We are now learning anew that anti-
Semitism has not abated, That the bigots are
regaining lost ground, that the Jew remains
the scapegoat for all who need excuses for
their demoniacal intentions.
We were given proof of the recrudescence
of anti-Semitism at the recent Economic
Club luncheon meeting at which George
Weller did not even resort to innuendo in at-
tacking the Jewish people. He spoke of Jews
as black-marketeers, as being the dominant
two-thirds of the Communist leaders, as the
gatherers of large funds to harm the poor
Arabs.
His speech was full of misrepresentations.
It was evident that, not having set foot either
in Israel or in Biro-Bidjan, that he knows
absolutely nothing about the mind or activi-
ties of Israel or the truth about Jewish re-
actions to Biro-Bidjan, whose upbuilding he
wrongly attributed to contributions by
American Jews.
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Because the major subject of his attack
was Israel, some of those whom he had mis-
led by his demagogic speeCh—including the
president of the Economic Club — assumed
that any criticism of him is an attempt to
play up an Israel issue above American in-
terests. The Economic Club's president un-
dertook to impress it upon us that he . is in-
terested in "AmeriCa first" and not . iii vari-
ous other areas inchiding Israel. Such an
attempt at self-vindication is a clear attempt
to becloud a serious issue into which the
reputation and record Of .American Jewry
and the standards of our American ideals
have been injected and dragged through
the mud.
The Economic Club speaker did not limit
himself to attacks on the state of Israel, to
which he is a stranger and whom he charged
with having "destroyed" Arab villages. It is
our contention that all his accusations are
based on hearsay and that as a newspaper-
man he owes it to his own conscience to get
theother side of the story, without limiting
himself to the trans-Jordanian- tale he is
broadcasting.
But we are primarily concerned with
his abuses of American Jewry. He spoke
of the raising of $850,000,000 by the United
Jewish Appeal since 1939. He is not a.
youngster. He is old enough to know that
there was a war—a world war—and that
in the crucible of the world holocaust there
were swallowed up six million Jews. About
a million and a half of the victims of
Nazism were rescued —, in our blessed
United States, in Latin American coun-
tries, in. England and in France and in
Israel. It took hundreds of millions of dol-
lars to rescue people, to purchase ships—
some of which were sunk with their human
. cargo—for their transportation, and to
provide relief for the needy. But Mr. Wel-
ler gave the impression that the money
was for Israel to fight the poor Arabs.
There is much to be said about the poor
Arabs. They are a poor lot—the victims of
their governments' mismanagement. They
could.be prosperous and comfortably provid-
ed for in a peaceful Mediterranean area. In
that part of the world—which once again is
in danger of being turned into the world's
battleground—Jews, 1,700,000 of them, also
are suffering for want of food, clothing and
shelter: mainly because there is no peace
there and the Mediterranean peoples must
prepare for defense!
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Well-meaning reporters and spokesmen
for responsible governments owe it to the
peace of the world to propagate amity and
not to fan discord and plant seeds of hatred.
Mr. Weller fails to strive for peace. His aim
js to spread discontent, and he has rendered
-
great hurt to American Jewry with his ac-
cusations. He spoke of a UJA income this
year of $145,000,000 — would that it were
true, suffering Jewry's needs being so great!
—and of an apportionment of $130,000,000
from this sum for Israel. Last year Israel's
immigrants—not Israel the state, but those
who settled there and who had to be cared
for in huts, with food and scant clothing—
benefited from the UJA to the tune of less
than $60,000,000. But Mr. Weller used the
demagogue's weapon: UJA, he told an un-
suspecting audience, is getting more money
than the Red Cross and March of Dimes
combined.- And the uninformed audience is
not to be expected to be in a position to sift
lies from truth, unless an opportunity is
given to present the truth:-
Therefore we say to the Economic
Club, contrary to the contentions of its
president who claims for it privacy and
immunity from public criticism, that as
long as its proceedings are publicized in
the press it is obligated to give an oppor-
tunity for rebuttal in instances of abuse of
truth to which we now take exception.
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We return to the claim of "America
first," with an obligation to assert that no
one has a monopoly on Americanism. This
is our community, which is a part of our
state and our nation. When a bigot comes
here to pollute the air we breathe we are
compelled to demand that the atmosphere be
purified. America does come first, and in or-
der to keep our land great and on the path
of justice, we must be sure that we are above
prejudice, that we reject biased reports. You
can't adopt the claim of "America first" and
under it permit the injection of prejudice in
our free society.
Israel is part of the world picture in the
struggle for democracy, and she cannot be
Tula out as representing a strange element
in America's planning. Furthermore, in Is-
rael there are people who were rescued
witirthe aid of American Jewry from the
threat of destruction by an enemy-
.— Nazism — whom all of us fought as
Americans. Who will decide whether these
rescued people are to be abandoned, or
whether we are to continue to aid them,
so that they may remain a bulwark for
democracy in a free world?
A grave injustice was perpetrated here
less than two weeks ago. The danger of an
injection of bigotry in our community and
its spread into other American Jewish com-
munities has not ended. This may be the
mere beginning of another planting season
for the spreaders of the seeds of hatred. We
were told that the Weller meeting was a
"brotherhood" rally, and the Detroit Round
Table was a victim of circumstances as the
inviter of many of those who attended it.
The guest speaker turned "brotherhood" into
hate. Such performances must be avoided in
the future, in the best interests of an "Amer-
ica first" program for the advancement of
this country's highest ideals. Any other ap-
proach would mean the undermining of
America's basic principles of justice and fair
play.
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People who swallow insults while crawl-
ing will be trampled in the dust. Americans
know no other direction for their heads and
shoulders than the uphill, straight position.
American Jews, like their neighbors, refuse
to submit to a curvature of the spine. Once
any family or religious group yields to it, the
entire nation is in danger of declining and
disintegrating.
It is heartening to know that the bigots
and the spreaders of hate remain in the mi-
nority, and that American Jews are ready
to defend the truth and to battle for justice.
As long.as we do not yield to panic but keep
our eyes and ears open to dangers,. the prin-
ciples for which we stand as Americans will
remain secure. For such security, we are
supported by the basic principles which
spell AMERICA.,
'Detroit As the People See It'
.A Review by DR. JOSEPH FAUMAN
. Recently released by Wayne University Press was a book to
command' the attention of all who are interested in making De-
troit a better place in which to live. The study by Prof. Arthur
Kornhauser, entitled "Detroit As the People See It: a survey of
attitudes in an industrial city" is a prime example of the dividends
paid to a community when it supports a fine municipal university.
Wayne University and the members of its staff who participated
in the study, the Detroit Board of Commerce which financed it
without controlling it, and the Wayne University Press deserve
our thanks.
The 200 odd pages of the report are not an unmixed lyric of
praise for the city and the way in which problems are solved in
it. Far from it. Certainly this is not the case when at least one •
fourth of those interviewed have unfavorable attitudes to Detroit
in many areas of questioning.
From the standpoint of the Jewish community, in addition
to interest in and concern about the city as a whole which we
share with all Detroiters, we are perhaps most specifically cort-
cerned with that part of the study dealing with inter-group and
inter-racial relations. The reasons for this need not be detailed
here.. As Prof. Kornhauser suggests and as other studies have
suggested "the white people who rate Negro-white relations not
good and who think the relations are deteriorating tend also to
be persoi who hold unfavorable attitudes towards the acceptance
of Negroes without discrimination more than two thirds of
the ideas expressed (by white respondents on what ought to. be
done on Negro-white relations) advocate some form of segregation.
Obviously while this does not apply to persons who see Negro-
white relations deteriorating because progress in race relations is
too- slow, the point is, nevertheless, one to be seriously considered.
Ghettoization of Negroes has implications for. Jews.
It is heartening to see that in mixed neighborhoods which-
have been mixed for some time, the percentage of positive atti-
tudes of whites in such areas on acceptance of Negroes is high
"and this percentage is markedly greater than that for the
white population as a whole." Such a finding gives strong sup-
port to the work of the internal relations committee of ..the
Jewish Community Council which has been based precisely on
this hypothesis.
Perhaps one of the most serious problems that DetroiterS
have is that, as Professor Kornhauser suggests, "Great numbers
of Detroit's citizens feel helpless and indifferent about changing
their city ... There is a challenging .opportunity here for Com-
munity leaders, organizations, and schools to build more enthusi.
astic outlooks in Detroit's citizens and. more feeling of personal
responsibility for Detroit's future."
Shortage of space prevents full discussion of Professor Korn-
hauser's findings with regard to schools and their apparent effect
upon the opinions of young people in Detroit, as well as prevent-
ing full discussion of other major areas surveyed.
The study is a basic reference tool for leaders of our colt-
munity, ordinary citizens, and community groups. As such its
value is decreased by the lack of an index. The study is also
limited because it is the first of such studies. We cannot say
whether people have more or less favorable attitudes than they
did three, five, or ten years ago. While the community owes its
thanks to the sponsors, anthors, and respondents of the study,
it can do no better than render such thanks tangible.
Funds should be collected and made available to both wayno .
University and the author for repeat studies in the years to come.
In this way the techniques of social science have value in im-
proving our lives.
Dr. Birnbaum's 'Passover Haggadah'
Dr. Philip (Paltiel) Birnbaum, whose translations of the
daily, Sabbath and holiday prayerbookse are among the best avail•
able for Jewish worshippers, has added to his collection of trans-
lations "The Passover Haggadah," an attractive text, with his
own English translation, published in time for the approaching
Pesach festival by Hebrew Publishing 'Co., 77 Delancey St., New
York. •
The value of the new Haggadah is not only in its good trans-
lation, in the clarity of the text and in the accuracy of the tradi-
tional contents, but more especially in the sunning commentary.
As the reader follows the he is able to get an author-
itative explanation of the numerous passages and their back-
ground. The reader, at the same time, is assisted in an under-
standing of the Haggadah by the references to the Biblical
sources upon which many of the Haggadah selections are based.
Of•value also.in Rabbi Birnbaum's Haggadah are the biograph-
ical sketches of the poets and heroes mentioned in the Passover
story. Thus, the Observer, while celebrating the Seder, is provided
with an education in Jewish biographical. history and in Biblical
sources. • This is, indeed, a vahiable addition to the best availablO .
liaggadahs.