Goodbye 1953, Hello 1954

THE .JEWISH NEWS

tncorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue 01 July 20

1951

Member Arner•car Association or English-Jewish Newspaiirs_ Michigan Press Association.
35 Mich. VE 8-9364
Jewish News Publishing Co. 17100 West Seven Mile Road Detroit
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PHILIP 3LOMOVti 2
Editor and Publisher

IDYY SHMAPAK
Advertising Manager

edifor

January 1, 1954

Page 4

XX1V—No. 1'7

FRANK StMONS
City

Sp. 1 : 1)th Scriptural Selections
This Sai117ath, the I:went:II-seventh day of Tebet„ 5714. the followng Scriptural selections will
be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Ex. 6:2-9:35. Prophetical portion, E:::ek. 28:25-29-21.

Licht Benshen, Friday,

Jan.

1, 4:41 p.m

The New Year: American Jewry's Tercentenary

An historic! a 1-miversary, marking the
passing of 300 years since the formation of
the first organized Jewish community in this
country, will make 1954 stand out as an im-
portant year on our calendar.
Every Jewish community in the land will
make note of this important occasion. While
the actual observance of the Tercentenary of
American Jewry will not begin until Sept. 12,
the many preliminary events will serve to
emphasize the Tercentenary during all of the
coming 12 months.
Our congregations already are plan-
Iiing religious observances. In otir own
community, Temple Beth El is inaugurat-
ing a ,series of Tercentenary celebrations
with the sermon to be delivered on - Tan. 15,
by Dr. Jacob Marcus, one of our most dis-
tinguished historians. It is an occasion
worthy of emulation, in view of the im-
portant message Beth El observers are
certain to hear from the noted guest.
Orthodox congregations are planning
similar lectures, and advance program-
ming includes an invitation to address a
major event to Dr. David deSola Pool. the
eminent minister of the Spanish-Portu-
guese Congregation of New York, which
was formed by the first Jewish settlers in
this country.

This generation of American Jews has
special reason to rejoice over its good fortune
of possessing citizenship in this great demo-
cracy. Our Tercentenary Year will serve as
a fitting occasion for evaluation of the bless-
ings that are ours under the Stars and
Stripes.
During this historic year we shall have
opportunities to interpret Jewish values to
our own communities and to our neighbors.
Our people have made many contributions
to America, to the development of this
country's institutions and ideals, towards
the advancement of the principles of Ameri-
canism which are guided by Scriptural codes.
The gathering of historical data will
assist in the presentation and interpretation
of these facts, and the Tercentenary thus
will serve a valued purpose.

Tercentenary celebrations can not, how-
ever, be limited to public jubilation and to
mere interpretation of historical facts. The
300th anniversary of the settlement of the
first Jewish community in this country also
carries with - it obligations. The message of
the Tercentenary will be valueless unless it
also can be linked with creative efforts to-
-wards the advancement of our cultural
values and the raising of the standards of
our communal efforts.
Our record as citizens and as Jews is a
good one. We have given our best to our
country. We have been compassionate as
Jews. We have established high records in
philanthropy. We are deeply devoted to Is-
rael and her needs. Now we must show cause
that we have come of age as a great Amer. i-

The Late Dr. Marx

In the passing of Prof. Alexander Marx,
world Jewry loses another most distinguished
scholar.
For the Jewish Theologic al Seminary,
whom he has served as professor of history
and as its distinguished librarian, this is an
especially grave loss, coming as it did so
soon after the death of his very distinguished
colleague, Dr. Louis Ginzberg.
Dr. Marx had endeared himself to his
students and he made a great place for him-
self among librarians of all faiths. He had
built up the Seminary Library to a place of
undisputed leadership in the world and he
was responsible for the collection of thous-
ands of most valuable books and manuscripts.
American. Jewry sits in mourning and
pays great tribute to this eminent scholar

whose memory will live in Jewish history.

can Jewish community, that we are able to
uphold Jewry's standards with our own man-
power, our own spiritual resources, our inner
strength as the inheritors of great„and his-
tonic • values.
For the past 50 years we have been draw-
ing upon European Jewry for leaders, for
guidance, for teachers. That Jewry has near-
ly dried up, as a result of the tragedies that
were visited upon it by the beasts of Ger-
many and Poland and the inhuman totalitar-
ian forces in the Iron Curtain countries. We
have been thrown on our own resources, and
we must, from now on, produce our own
teachers, our own historians, our own guides
in our efforts, to assist in the advancement
of mankind's highest ideals.

We had proof of increasing interest in
our cultural and spiritual needs in our own
community, during the past week, when four
Detroit families pledged scholarships, in
amounts of $21,500 each, to the Jewish Theo-
logical Seminary. These gifts, which supple-
ment contributions for relief and for Israel's
upbuilding, indicate an interest in the ad-
vancement of Jewish values, in the training
of the Eternal Light program. They are ges-
tures in the direction of a new spiritual re-
birth. They are proof, in this historic era, of
a deep interest shown by our people in ef-
forts to strengthen the movements which
function in the interest of elevating the high-
est values of Judaism.
American Jewry has not come of age
fully, but it certainly is near to the attain- .
ment of the goal of great creativeness cul-
turally. We are the world's most noteworthy,
philanthropists, and we shall surely take our
place among those who are dedicated to the '
idea of upholding the teachings and ideals of
Prophetic Judaism.
The Tercentenary year is the time for
proclaiming that we shall place learning
above all, that we shall raise the standards
of our schools, that our synagogues shall be
bate midrashim—houses of research and
learning—as well as bate tefillah—houses of
Prayer. When we do that, as we must, our
philanthropic efforts will of themselves be
greater, Israel will be helped to an even
higher degree than now and our American-
ism will be even more respected.
There are many challenges for us to re-
spond to in the year we are now entering—
the Tercentenary Year—and we shall surely
meet them with honor and with dignity.

•

H iler
mm Story Ex pose f N azi sm

Willi Frischauer, who already has exposed the menace of a
surviving Nazism, renders a new service with his daring book on
"Himmler: The Evil Genius of the Third Reich," a Beacon Press
(25 Beason St., Boston 8) publication.
Heinrich Himmler is described as the symbol of the S. S. He
is "compared with a length of wire whose electric current was
supplied from outside—that current being Hitler."
Even in death, Himmler performs a function. To quote
Frischauer: "Although neither God nor Germany's enemies are
likely to absolve all Germans at Himmler's expense, the German
people themselves have unconsciously elevated him to a secret
pedestal as a savior of Germany's conscience, as a national scape-
goat. Defeat was, perhaps, Hitler's fault; war crimes are laid
exclusively at Himmler's door. The German conscience is clear
because the blame for everything sinister, contemptible, criminal
and horrible that happened in Germany and the occupied coun-
tries between 1933 and 1945 rests on Himmler."
And so, Germany has a scapegoat—while Nazis still labor,
without apology, without a sense of guilt! The study of Himmler,
who takes a place in history beside Ghengis Khan, Torquemada
and Fouche, reveals that "kindred spirits still stalk the German
scene as living apparitions." Frischauer was told by Himmler's
brother Gebhard that he is proud to bear the name Himmler, and
others try to excuse him. Frischauer, however, arrives at facts
which once again make one's hair stand on edge and serve once
again to warn mankind against impending dangers from barbar-
ians.
Actually, this evil spirit, at whose hands millions of lives were
sacrificed, is portrayed as a mouse who was uable to make up his
mind, who depended on others to set policy.
• Towards the end, like other Nazis, he posed as a friend of the
Jews—in an effort to save his skin. But the Jews were his first
target and his name must be recorded, as Frischauer does, as one
of mankind's worst characters.
Frischauer makes reference to Count Folke Bernadotte's
negotiations with Himmler. He quotes from H. R. Trevor-Roper's
book and refers to the man who had great influence upon
Himmler—Felix Kersten. Apparently, however, he had not read
Trevor-Roper's charge that Bernadotte had refused to rescue
Jews, that he asked credit undue him for rescuing victims of the
Nazis. The story, taken from the Trevor-Roper article in Atlan-
tic Monthly, is told in full in the Commentator's column in The
Jewish News of April 10, 1953.
There are numerous revelations in Frischauer's "Himmler,"
interesting stories about Rothschild, who calmly defied the Nazis,
the record of the Nazi butcher Eichmann who was born in Pales-
tine, etc. This book renders. an important service in further ex-
United States Ambassador to Israel Mon- posing the Nazi menace.

Noted Diplomat Is Dead

net B. Davis was a distinguished career dip-
lomat who established a high record for
notable services to our country on many
fronts. His passing last week, in Tel Aviv, of
a heart ailment, at the age of 60, is sincerely
mourned by the Jewish state where he had
endeared himself to all who knew him.
From the very first days of his service
in Israel, Ambassador Davis was known to
be helpful in the Jewish state's behalf. He
assisted in negotiating a U. S. $65,000,000
loan to Israel and encouraged the granting
of Point Four aid to the young state.
Israel's President Itzhak Ben - Zvi, in
a cabled message of "heartfelt condolences"
to President Eisenhower, made this interest-
ing statement:
"During his tenure of office as rep-
resentative of the United States he en-
deared himself to all with whom he came
in contact by his sterling qualities of mind
and character, by his selfless devotion to
duty and by his sincere efforts to pro-
mote relations of true friendship between
Israel and the great American Republic.
His blessed memory will be unforgotten in
the annals of our country."
Those who had worked with the late Mr.
Davis attest to these facts. All who had
known him learned to cherish' memories of
him. All. Jewry pays tribute to him and joins
in expressing heartfelt sympathies to his
family.

Relation of Climate to Architecture

Jeffrey Ellis Aronin, a distinguished young architect, ap-
proaches construction problems that arise in the designing of
buildings from the point of view of harmonizing the plans with
climatic conditions.
His thorough approach iN outlined in his impressive, profusely
illustrated book, "Climate and Architecture," published by Rein-
hold Publishing Corp., 330 W. 42nd, NY36.
By means of charts and graphs, gathering valuable informa-
tion on his interesting subject, the able young architect presents
facts which should prove of great value to builders. The influence
of wind, sun, temperature, humidity, lightino . and other factors
on architecture—their benefits and disadvantages—are outlined
in "Climate and Architecture."
Mr. Aronin not only presents problems, he also outlines solu-
tions. He suggests how to select a site, how to keep areas dry,
how to avoid snow-shoveling burdens; he proposes the best way of
landscaping, beautification of property, etc.
Two synagogues are illustrated. An Omaha Jewish house of
worship is given special attention for the religious significance of
the structure, the traditional windows and the concentration of
daylight on the pulpit. Synagogue-planners will find much value
in this book.
The young author studied at Hamilton College, University of
Manitoba, McGill University and in New York. He commenced
his interest in the relation of climate to architecture
when, in 1946, as a correspondent representing Canadian university
students, he observed Exercise Muskox, a 90-day, 3100-mile Cana-
dian Army expedition to the far north. His book is the result of
investigations that followed endeavors by that expedition to find
the best solution to the problem of living in severely cold weather.
Mr. Aronin is a member of leading architectural societies in this
country, Canada and Mexico. He has been associated with noted

New York architectural :firms.