rum '74-1 174/ trI;v
MADE EASY
Hebrew As It Is Spoken in Israel Today
By SHUSHANNAH SPECTOR and Rabbi. JOSEPH ZEITLIN
Editor's Note: This special American Jewish Press feature is
another in a series of easy lessons for self-study of Hebrew.
The Sefardic pronunciation is used in these lessons. The complete
book, "Hebrew Made Easy," is available from Miss Shushannah
Spector, 904 S. Miami Ave., Miami, Fla., at $1.50 a copy.
jelto
kaaish
London Jewish Weekly Condemns British
Polley of Arab Appeasement; Statement
Completely Ignores Israel, Balfour Pledge
Strong condemnation of a new British Middle East policy,
which, apparently, aims at a new effort to appease the Arabs by
completely forgetting and ignoring the existence of Israel, the
Israel-Arab and Israel-British wars and the Balfour Declaration,
is featured in the Jewish Observer and Middle East Review of
London, England.
The front page reference to the editorial reads:
"Isreal and Egypt Distortions—Central Office of Information
`White Paper'—Recent history falsified; Israel Facts suppressed;
and Egyptian dates juggled in the official Government Informa-
tion Service survey on Middle East Defense."
Accompanying this analysis is this map, which illustrates the
position of the Arabs and the tiny spot occupied on the map by
Israel:
ivatertneloh
honeydew melon
grapes
Maybe peaches?
'a-na-vim
'af-ar=se-kim?
Yes. please
Ken be-vak-ka-shah
Please give me the bill
The bill, Nfosheh, I know
how to read
Be-vak-ka-shah, ten li 'et
ha-hesh-bon
'Et ha-hesh-bon, Mo-sheh,
'a-ni yo-de'a lik-ro'
Certainly
Be-vad-da'i
And here is a tip for the
waiter
Ve-hin-neli ha-'a-na-kah
ta-mel-zar
Have you had enough?
Ha-sa-vdta 'ado-ni?
I have eaten, I am full and
.- I have recited grace
lint now I have to learn to
understand a Hebrew
menu
It is good to eat in Hebrew
'A-chat-ti sa-va'-ti u-ve-rach-
ti
'Aval 'ach-shav 'ani ?a-rich
lit-mod le-ha-vin taf-rit
be'iv-rit
Toy le'e-chol belv-rit
Morris D. Waldman's Book
Packed Full With Revelations
science at Columbia and a mem-
ber, of the faculty of the Grad-
uate School of Social Work.
After organizing and serving
as director of the Jewish Wel-
fare Federation of Detroit, he
was called to New York to be-
come secretary of the American
Jewish Committee, in 1928, un-
der the presidency of Louis
Marshall. It was in this position
that he was able to gather the
most important facts for his
book—to be on the ground floor
during the most important his-
tory-making years when the
Jewish Agency was organized,
when there was the battle over
Zionism in Jewish Committee
ranks, when issues revolved
around relief and reconstruc-
tion, the fight against Nazism,
the battle for democracy, the
Waldman nearly 5,000,000, crucial struggles in philan-
through the eras of two wars thropic circles.
•
•
•
and the struggles that marked
FEW
MEN
of
our
time are as
the tremendous efforts that
were exerted by the Jews of this well equipped to relate the ne-
country to aid their less fortun gotiations that were conducted
ate brethren, to assist in the by Dr. Chaim Weizmann with
rise of the Jewish state, to fight the American Jewish Committee
bigotry and to support demo- in the formative years of the
cratic causes. The book has just Jewish Agency. Opposition of
been published by International Committee leaders to the World
Universities Press, 227 W. 13th Jewish Congress played a part
in t h e negotiations and Dr.
St., N. Y. 11.
Waldman quotes Dr. Weizmann
* *
EVERY CHAPTER in this dy- as having told him, "I am not
namite - packed book exposes for the World Jewish Congress."
In "Nor By Power" the reader
some aspect of the past.
Waldman leaves 'nothing to the will learn how minorities treat-
imagination. He writes frankly, ies became scraps of paper, how
listing all the facts, quoting the Nazis made friends in this
from his memoirs, expressing country, the manner in which
opinions which bear the weight poison weeds were uprooted and
of time by virtue of the eminent good neighbor policies promoted
chronicler's position during cru- in this country, among our
cial years in American Jewish Latin American neighbor 5,
among ourselves.
history.
The section "Palestine and
W a 1 d in a n, who was born
74 years ago in Hungary and the Non - Zionists" in Wald-
was brought 'to this country at man's book is especially provo-
the age of 4, was educated at cative. The role of Dr. Weiz-
New York University. He studied mann, the hesitancy of Judge
at the Jewish Theological Semi- Joseph. Proskauer in leading aid
nary, specialized in Semitics and to the Zionist cause and his
philosophy at Columbia, was eventual capitulation, the con-
rabbi in New Brunswick, N. J., fusions and the debates, are not
for three years and then entered only reviewed with skill but are
backed up with facts gleaned
the field of ,social work.,
He was managing director of from personal records.
Waldman t o o k issue with
the United Jewish Charities of
New York, served as president of Rabbi Morris Lazaron's op-
the New York State Conference position to American Jewish
Committee plans for coopera-
of Charities and later became
president of the National Con- tion with the Zionists, He
ference of Jewish Charities. He battled with Judge Proskauer
was a member of the Council about whom he utters some
for the Jewish Agency for Pal- harsh words. While personally
estine, a lecturer in social rejecting Jewish nationalism,
"Nor by Power" is a book that
will be talked abOut throughout
the land. It will lend itself for
review , for sermons, for discus-
sions by Jewish groups through-
out the land. It will serve to
remind American Jews about
events of the past three decades
which many
may already
have forgotten.
It is Mor-
ris D. W a 1 d-
man's volume of
reminiscences
about American
Jewry from the
turn of the
century, when
our population
was not more
than a million,
to its rise to
THE MIDDLE EAST AREA
International
Boundaries
Armistice
—
Demarcation Lines
Principal 05 Fields
The editorial excoriating the British information Service
which bore the heading "Central Office of Suppressed Informa-
tion," is reprinted from the Jewish Observer and Middle East
Review in full, as follows:
At long last, almost at the
same moment as President Eis-
ephower addressed to Congress
his outspoken report on the
Middle East, the "Central Office
of Information" of Her Majes-
ty's Government d i s t r i buted
throughout the world a thirty-
page White Paper explaining the
situation in the Middle East as
the British Government sees it.
A note on the cover says that
the material in the booklet "is
der iv e d from authoritative
sources and may be freely used
in preparing articles, speeches,
broadcasts, etc." Such an au-
thoritative picture has long been
Wanting. To use the revievAr's
stock phrase: it filled a gap.
But what gap-filling! After an
auspicious beginning, it proceeds
to paint a Middle Eastern fan-
tasy composed of carefully se-
lected examples mingled with
scrupulously suppressed facts
and embellished with purely
imaginary events. Any resemb-
lance which this has to the ac-
tual situation in the Middle East
is not merely accidental; it is
miraculous.
The paper, entitled "The De-
fense of the Middle East," opens
with a lucid, informative and I
reasonably honest description of
the strategic importance of. the
Middle East. It describes how
the British Empire during the
last 155 years has fought four
major wars against the French,
Russian, Turkish, Austro-Hun-
garian and Italian Empires and
against the G e r ma n Reich
(twice) to deny a foothold in
this area to would-be conquerors.
It shows, and this is impor-
tant, that the Middle East was
always an essential element in
Britain's Balance of Power poli-
cies. It shows particularly how
the "neutralisation" of the Mid-
dle East was an essential ele-
ment of this policy before the
first world war. Mr. Churchill's
now famous House of Commons
speech was in effect an attempt
at a new and revised version of
this traditional British policy
applied • to a world today dom-
inated by the two Russian and
American blocs.
Waldman writ es that he
and Dr. Cyrus Adler, who be-
fore his death was president
of the American Jewish Com-
mittee, entertained "no ob-
jections to the establishment
of a State in Palestine" and
saw "in the creation of such
a State little danger of im-
pairing or embarrassing the
status of Jews in any country
outside of Palestine."
says destroy the myth of Jew-
ish influence and power. He ex-
poses • the nonsense which was
uttered by Hitler and his ilk—
the stupidity of the interna-
tional menace. And while, in a
sense, it may represent a let=
down for those who glory in the
thought of Jewish influence, it
nevertheless helps expose stu-
pidities like the Protocols.
In the m a i n, Waldman
has written a very powerful
book. For many it will serve
as a guide in judging leadership,
in evaluating Jewish need s.
"Nor By Might" reflects the im-
portance of the entire sentence
from which it is culled (Zech.
4:6) : "Not by might, nor by
As an additional repudiation
of Dr. Lazaron's view, which has
become the view of the Council
for Judaism, Waldman writes:
"With respect. to Palestine I
have found few, if any, Chris-
tian fellow-citizens who ques-
tion our loyalty to America be-
cause of our interest in, and
support of, a Je wish Pales-
tine,"
power, but by My spirit, saith
the Lord of Hosts."
4;
OF SPECIAL interest to De-
troiters is Waldman's reference
to his services here as the or-
ganizer and first director of the
Jewish Welfare Federation. He
makes important comments on
the relationship of the Federa-
tion to the Community Chest
and the duty of the Jewish corn,
munity to the latter.
He pays honor to Henry
Wineman and reprints an inter-
change of correspondence with
him.
*
AMERICAN J E W R Y's high
sense of civic duty, our genuine
p at riotis m, is reflected in
Waidman's vignettes. Reflecting
the sentiments of Jewish lead-
ers and of the inherent loyalties
of American Jews, he empha-
sizes, throughout his book the
necessity for subordination of
special Jewish interests to those
of the United States, to our
country; but nowhere is it done
He calls David A, Brown one
cringingly, apologetically. It is
stated with the dignity worthy of the 10 "most decisive" Jews
of Americans and of Jews, and in America,
Dr. Harrry Saitzstein and Fred
in every instance the Jewish
needs gain out of the strength Butzel are other Detroiters to
whom Waldman pays honors in
of expression by an able man.
Incidentally, Waldman's es- his books
But if this new Churchill pol-
icy is to have the slightest
chance of `succeSs, it has to be
accompanied by a realistic ap-
preciation of the situation, not
by a make-believe attempt to
fool ourselves and the world—
such as this Central Office of
Information White Paper does.
For its account of the history
of the last thirty years is char-
acterized by a major suppres-
sion of fact with regard to Pal-
estine, and a general distortion
with regard to relations with
Egypt in particular, and the
Arab States generally.
Thus there is an account of
the promises made and the
treaties concluded after the first
world war. All the familiar un-
dertakings to the Arab rulers
are recalled; the exceptional
role played by Ibn Saud, Hus-
sein, Feisal and Abdullah in de-
feating the Turks and the Ger-
mans is recapitulated; the new
states which were set up as a
result, are all listed—all, that is,
except one undertaking, one
people and one country: there is
not one reference to the Balfour
Declaration, not one to Zionists,
not one to the Jewish National
Home, just a shame-faced fleet-
ing mention of the "territory of
Palestine." As for the word
"Jew," that clearly was taboo
on each one of the thirty pages.
And so the fantasy continues..
Step by step the British set up
independent s t a t e s: starting
with Iraq in 1921 and Egypt in
1922 and ending with Palestine
in 1948. This change was helped
by the conclusion of new Tread-
ties with Iraq, Egypt and Jor-
dan. There was never any dif-
ficulty, any difference or any
conflict between the British and
the Arabs.
There was of course no 'Arab
rebellion in Palestine and no
Jewish clash with the Manda-
tory and, for sure, no Arab-
Israel war. Never a ripple dis-
turbed the smooth amicable
Anglo-Arab relations, unham-
pered by the existence of the
Arab League—which also re-
ceives no mention in this "au-
thoritative" survey.
When we come to the more
recent relations with Egypt the
picture is wholly twisted by the
substitution of later dates for
earlier events and by the attri-
bution of policies to the British
negotiators which, in fact, they
scorned and rejected at the
time.
Thus, this Paper claims that
in 1950 the British Government's
view was that Middle East de-
fense was no longer an exclu-
sive Anglo-Egyptian concern, but
one for the free world as a
whole. Yet at that very mo-
ment Field-Marshal Slim was
telling the Egyptian Premier
that the Americans were not
concerned with this problem; it
was one purely for the U. H, .and
Egypt.
This extraordinary `.!authorita-
tive" survey then proceeds to
claim that Egypt was formally
approached with this new inter-
national conception of Middle
East defense "in the spring" of
1951, and again in the summer
and that the Egyptians rejected
this. The facts, of course, are
that the new approach was not
made until October 13, a week
after Egypt abrogated the
Treaty.
These are but a few examples
of this remarkable exercise in
distortion. What good does the
"Central Office of Information"
—and the Government—think
can come from this crude falsi-
fication of recent history, from
the pretense that these is no
Israel problem and that there
are no Anglo-Arab differences in
the Middle East? It is difficult
to imagine a greater disservice
which they could have rendered
at this stage to the search for a
solution of the many unsolv
problems in the area.
28
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, October 23„ 1953
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