Purely Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

The Intermarriage Problem: Relevant Stories
Intermarriage is not a myth; it is a reality. It is on the in-

Irwin I. Cohn Elected
`M' Hillel President

Irwin I. Cohn, Detroit attor-
ney and community leader, has
been elected president of the
.......

crease everywhere, and also in this country—being a direct re-
sult of the growing freedoms and the increasing assimilation of
peoples.
The problem can not be taken lightly. The days when parents
sat shivah over a child who married out of the faith—the tearing
of kriah, the making of a rent in the clothing, indicating that the
parents thus considered the child dead or lost to them—are gone.
Fathers and mothers now make peace with conditions arising
from inter-faith marriages. But the tragedy lurks in their hearts,
and to avoid tragedy ways must be sought to prevent inter-
marriages.
It is said that a more extensive Jewish education will lead
children away from the errors of making alliances that must
eventually lead to the disappearance of the intermarried from
Jewish ranks. On general principles, -education is the solution to
be craved, since it creates more understanding and better informed
Jews. But it can not be said always to be the most positive ap-
proach, since even most learned Jews have been known to inter-
marry.
Referring back to Israel Cohen's "Travels in Jewry," (E. P.
IRWIN I. COHN
Dutton & Co., 300 4th, N.Y. 10, publishers), which fascinated this
Commentator into praising the book in last week's column, we find Michigan Bnai Brith Hillol
examples of intermarriages that worked well and tragedies that Foundation, Inc.
taught lessons unto another generation.
Others to serve with Mr. Cohn,
*
*
elected by the board of trustees
at its annual meeting, are: Abe
More Kosher Than Her Husband
A Non Jewess
In Mr. Cohen's "Italian Sketches" in this most informative Kasle and Emil T. Stern, vice
book of recollections, there are incidents about Florence. T h e presidents; Herman S. Osnos,
eminent English-Jewish writer and Zionist leader asked "the treasurer; Louis H. Shostak, ser_:-
Rabbi, a scholar of the modern school," for "the reason of the retary.
In recognition of his many
decadence of Jewry." The Rabbi was surprised by the word:
"If you mean that the conditions of Jewry here are distin- years of faithful service to the
guished from those of other countries by decadence, I deny it. cause of Hillel, Osias Zwerdling,
You must remember what the Jewish population of Italy is— of Ann Arbor, was named hon-
merely fifty thousand, and they are scattered through a hun- orary president.
dred different cities and towns. Dispersion is always a power-
Mr. Cohn pointed out that the
ful source of weakness in Jewish life; and there are two other Michigan Hillel Foundation in
things you must take into consideration, the perfect political Ann Arbor, was dedicated last
equality and the poor economic conditions. In every country fall to serve the spiritual and
Judaism loses at the two extremes: the rich become assimilated social needs of the. Jewish stu-
and absorbed, and the poor have to fight for their living to the dent body on the University of
detriment of the Sabbath."
Michigan campus. Hundreds of
How true of all free lands! Even the answer this Rabbi gave men and women of all faiths
to Mr. Cohen's comment that it would be an imposing sight if participated in the building of
the Florence synagogue had a larger Sabbath attendance, Mr. the Foundation. Presently, how-
Cohen's feeling being "I felt this morning it was like a mauso- ever, a substantial balance is
leum." The Rabbi replied: "And in London in the synagogues of outstanding and a concerted
fund-raising program will be
the rich? But still, the conditions here are really improving."
Then the Florence Rabbi relates incidents of intermarriage in launched to raise $150,000 to
liquidate the amount due, Mr
his city:
"Cases occur, but not to any great extent. I could tell you of Cohn said.
two rather interesting cases. The nephew of a Rabbi fell in love
Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld, na-
with the niece of a Catholic priest, and they were married in the tional Hillel director, who was
synagogue with all the traditional rites. The priest was indig- present at the annual meeting
nant. but his niece was in love not only with the Jew, but with expressed his conviction that
Judaism. She keeps a strictly kosher house, and here comes the the citizens of Michigan would
irony—she has made her husband much more observant of rally to the cause of Hillel.
Elected members of the board
Jewish ceremonies than he was before marriage.
"The other case is much more peculiar: it spreads over three of trustees, in addition to the
generations. Some thirty years ago a Jew married a poor Cath- above, are: Louis Berry, Alfred
olic woman in a church, and he died soon after the birth of a Bounin, Aaron Droock, Sidney
daughter. The child was brought up, of course, as a pious Cath- J. Karbel, Mrs. Charles D. Sole-
olic by the struggling mother, and when she grew up she mar- vich, Milton M. Weinstein, Hen-
ried a fellow-Catholic. The husband was a brute, and the young ry Wineman and Harry Yudkoff,
mother died after giving birth to a son, who was taken care of all of .Detroit; Benjamin Rossi,'
by the grandmother. The husband soon followed the wife to the and Herbert 0. Schlager, Ann
grave, and then the grandmother, reflecting upon the sorrows Arbor; Louis Glick, Jackson;
of her life, looked upon them all as a punishment of God for Jotn Merdler, Saginaw; Willia m
the apostasy of her Jewish husband. So she resolved to have A. Present, Lansing.

-

—

her grandson brought up as a Jew. and this is what is now be-
ing done. I know the little boy and he can read Hebrew quite
fluently."

Scottish Mill Makes
Paper from Negev Weeds
Such are the tales of life's experiences. We know many in-

cidents of intermarriages to match the first one, and many that
LONDON, (JTA)—A Scottish
have spelled tragedy. And the second story causes us to think paper mill has succeeded in pro-
of the Finaly Brothers, upon whom the influence of Catholicism ducing three different types of
has left strong marks.
paper from the juncus weed
which grows abundantly in Is-
rael's Negev area.
An Appropriate Anecdote About Intermarriage
The paper produced from the
There is a charming anecdote which has its place in a dis-
cussion of intermarriage. The story goes that Benjamin fell in love weed, which has a cellulose con-
and informed his parents that he met a girl he adores. Father tent varying between 47 and 58
and mother were thrilled— until told that the girl was not Jewish. per cent, have good bulking and
They objected and the protest was taken by the lover to his sweet- handling properties and allow
heart. The sensible girl said she agreed with his parents, she smooth finishes which are likely
could not blame them for their feelings, but was prepared to ac- to be suitable for lithograph
printing, the report said.
cept Judaism as a compromise—which she did. ,
The plant can be converted to
The week after their honeymoon took Ben back to his paper_Nwith existing machinery
father's store. Then came the Sabbath. Benjamin, as usual, went used by British paper mills. Is-
for his hat, kissed his wife and was ready to leave his apartment. raeli experts believe that as a
But the convert asked a question: "Where are you going?"
raw material for paper produc-
tion the weed can compete suc-
"To the store."
"Today?" asked the charming girl. "Don't you know the day?" cessfully on the British market.
"Of course," was the reply, "it is Saturday, the busiest day in It grows in the desert area and
can be watered with salt water.
our business."
"Not in my religion," said the newlywed. "I was taught that
it is the holiest day of the week. This is our Sabbath, darling, not Bond Funds to Construct
the day for business."
Phosphate Factory in Israel
Ben removed his hat and sat down nervously. An hour passed
and the phone rang.
With the assistance of invest-
"Where are you?" inquired impatient papa. "The store is ment capital from the Israel
crowded and you're not here."
Bond issue, a new factory for
Benjamin explained the morning's experience with his wife, the processing of phosphates
whereupon Father shouted through the phone: "I told you not to will be constructed near the
marry a shiksah!"
S'dom Road in Kurnub, 17 miles
This is offered strictly as an anecdote. It is not proferred as from the Dead • Sea Potash
consolation for intermarriage-seekers. Yet, we venture the view Works.
that there also is reality in this charming story: the reality of
The factory - will augment the
many converts having become more loyal than those born within plant presently in operation
the fold.
near the Dead Sea. Both plants
Such are the experiences of life. Oscar Wilde once said that will handle the flow of phos-
"we call our sins experience." When the sin already is committed, phates now being mined under
it is the easier way out: to chalk it up as experience, as long as the increased production pro-
harm is minimized.
gram of the Israel Mining Cor-
poration, financed with Israel
bond funds.
Friday, August 7, 1953
2—DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Peron Greets Israel Minister

BUENOS AIRES, (JTA) —
President Juan Peron received
Israel Minister Yaacov Tsur
prior to Tsur's departure for his
new post in Paris.
During the audience, Peron
stressed the excellent relations
between Israel and Argentina,
spoke highly of the Argentina
Jewish community and ex-
pressed his admiration fdr the
loyalty of the Jews to their tra-
ditions. He asserted this loyalty
was Israel's strongest guarantee
of its future. -
Argentine Foreign Minister
Dr. Jeronimo Remorino gave a
farewell dinner f o r Minister

Tsur and members of the dip-
lomatic corps were among the
guests. During the past week,
Mr. Tsur has been honored at
luncheons, dinners and recep-
tions by -the envoys of France,
Greece, Norway and Uruguay.

Kill 6 Arab Infiltrees

TEL AVIV, (JTA)—Six tsrab in-
filtrees were killed, 10 wounded
and another 12 apprehended in
clashes last week with Israel
border units, it was announced
by a military spokesman who de-
nied a chatge by Jordan that an
Israeli force had attacked the
Arab village of Ikssa.

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1953, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

Poll on Judaism:

From time to time Jewish students at Harvard "take the
pulse" among their colleagues on their identification with Juda-
ism . . . Last year the results of such a . poll presented a rather
gloomy picture . . . Most the students were not ashamed of
being Jews, but they said
said . that they were Jews - only because
their parents were Jews ... They knew nothing about Judaism
and cared little about it . This year the survey involved col-
lege students from all over the country . . • They attended the
Brandeis Camp Institute, _a stunmer camp of Jewish study, and
they were asked to answer a number of questions to establish
the extent of their identification with Judaism and the extent
of their insecurity as Jews . . The questionnaire. prepared by
Malcolm D. Rivkin, a Harvard student, had been pre-tested on
30 students from Harvard, Radcliffe, and Brandeis University . .
The results of the study led to the conclusion that American
Judaism is losing the charactei of a positive, soul-satisfying
force . Mr. Rivkin emphasized that if Judaism is to survive
and develop, Jewish leaders must "re-examine, re-valuate and
re-define" its role in terms of present-day problems, not past
experiences . . . He found the highest level of identification with
Jewishness among Orthodox and Conservative students, women
with extensive education, and office-holders in Jewish organiza-
tions . . . The lowest level of identification came from students
with Reform or agnostic backgrounds, or those who had limited
Women showed strong tendencies to be
Jewish education .
This is because Jewish groups in
more identified than men .
this country offer its women a larger variety of activities . .
Also probably because the man tends to be oriented away from
the home 'toward the larger society where he must find occupa-
tional status ... In this atmosphere there is a corresponding les-
sening of forces and attractiveness towards Jewish identification
. . . On the other hand, the Jewish woman, because she has less
opportunity for achievement in the occupational world,' tends to
join Jewish women's groups and adopts more Jewish values than
men.. .

Jewish Security:

Perhaps the most interesting part of the study is the part
which tries to establish to what extent Jews feel secure in this
country . . . A high degree of security showed itself among those
who 'lived in neighborhoods or went to schools where there were
a large number of other Jews ... Women were also very secure
. . The most insecure people came from areas or schools with
few fellow-Jews - . . . They had very high incomes, and tended
to be men, rather than women . . . The highly identified Jews
were not necessarily the most secure . . . In fact, a large propor-
tion of • the "most Jewish" subjects evidenced marked insecurity
. . . Of course, the sample group on which this finding is based
is small, and possibly unrepresentative . . . Nevertheless, the
result of the study is interesting inasmuch as the trend among
Jews now is towards breaking away from neighborhood ties and
moving to other areas . . Emphasis is, of course. laid on the
fact that the only insecurity American Jews face is an amor-
phous state of social insecurity . . . The American Jew enjoys
equal protection under the law and the privileges and immuni-
ties of other American citizens . . . He is not exposed to external
forces which demand that Jews band together or perish . . He
is not subject to concerted pressure from an openly hostile en-
vironment which denies him material benefits . . . On 'the con-
trary, he is a product of a society that ideologically encourages
him to act as an individual, not as a member of a group .
Nevertheless, he is denied by some .,elements the symbols of social
status only because he is a member of the Jewish group . . . It is
due to this attitude, that many Jews "return" to Judaism, the
study establishes . . . They become "more Jewish" because they
can find a status substitute in Jewish affiliation . . Much of
identification with Judaism, the study finds, is nothing but a com-
pensation for status-denial by the non-Jewish world . . They
find Judaism "second-best" and really want to break away but

cannot ...

:la

Call of the Youth:

It is worthwhile to point out that the study is part of a pro-
ject of self-evaluation by the Hillel Foundation at Harvard Uni-
versity . . . The theme was the return of many young Jews to
Judaism and the findings were published in "Perspective 1953,"
organ of Harvard Hillel, of which Jack Jacob Neusner is editor-
in-chief . . . Mr. Neusner, who majored in American history and
received his A.B. Magna Cum Laude '53, has something to say
about American Jewish parents and their children . . "We are
the children of a generation lost to Judaism," he points out.
"Our fathers, in turning away from religion transplanted from
Eastern Europe, fled the lifestream of Judaism" . . . He also com-
plains that generous gifts to fight anti-Semitism are being ac-
companied by "niggardly spiritual donations" to the institutions
of culture and religion . . . "For many of our parents," he asserts,
"Judaism was bled white of meaning, and remained a dead sore."
. . "We, their children," he continues, "are part of a generation
of Tshuvah, of return to our Jewish heritage" . . . He points out
that the cataclysmic years of Hitler, Stalin and war—as well as
the Israeli and American Jewish renaissance—have led some of
the Jewish youth in this country to become "Baalei Tshuvah,"
Jews reconverted to Judaism , . . Neusner is the son 'of Samuel
Neusner, publisher of the Jew i sh Ledger, Hartford, Conn.

