New Hebrew Sclioo 1 Dedication Pays
Community leaders and sup-
porters of the United Hebrew
Schools were deeply impressed
Stmday with plans for the new
school bran ch
on Schaeffer
and Seven Mile
o a d, to be
::known as the
:Esther Berman
Branch of the
'schools.
Participants in
the cornerstone
laying cere-
mony, Sunday
morning, p aid
tribute to the
memory of Es-
Late Mrs. Berman ther (Mrs. Ju-
lius) Berman. The son of the
deceased, Mandell Berman, ex-
pressed the family's gratitude
for the heritage Mrs. Berman
passed on to them with her
good deeds. Similar sentiments
were expressed in. the remarks
of Rabbi A. M. Hershman.
Isidore Sobeloff, speaking for
the Jewisl Welfare Federation,
commended the Hebrew Schools
and the Berman family on the
construction of the new school
branch.
Jacob Kellman presided. Abe
Kasle, president of the schools,
laid the cornerstone. Rabbi J.
Chinitz gave the blessing. A
kiddush followed in the present
UHS school building adjoining
the new structure.
The new building will have
classrooms, auditorium, library
and adminitrative offices.
Tribute to Esther Berman's ,Mernory
NEW YORK, (JTA)—High.
Soviet authorities have or-
dered a special survey to learn
how many Jews in the USSR
are interested in immigrating
to Israel, according to the
Jewish Daily Forward's Mos-
cow correspondent.
The report indicates that
letters to and from Israel are
being counted, a check on
Jews attending the synagogue
is being made; requests for
Yiddish and Hebrew books in
Soviet libraries are being ta-
bulated; figures are being
compiled on Jews who have
been marked by police as
Zionists and nationalists, and
an investigation of Jews still
in slave labor camps and jails,
with special emphasis on
Zionist or pro-Zionist lean-
ings, is being. conducted.
Yale Book Uncovers Saga of Jewish Tribe
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — The
fascinating saga of a little-
known Jewish tribe which exist-
ed in Biblical times on an island
in the southern part of Egypt
comes to light in a book pub-
lished by Yale University Press.
Bearing the title, "The Brook-
lyn Museum Aramic Papyri:
New Documents of the Fifth
Century B.C. from the Jewish
Colony at Elephantine," t h e
book unfolds the history of the
little-known tribe and the story
of how the documents trans-
lated in it came to light.
The Elephantine colony lived
far from the homeland of the
main body of Jews, probably
existing as a military garrison.
Though its religious practices
were anything but orthodox, the
I Jews living there were granted
the privilege of having a tem-
ple close to the sanctuary of
the great E g y p t i an diety
Khnum, the official lord of the
region.
The newly-found and trans-
lated documents definitely fix
410 B.C. as the date of the des-
truction of this temple.
Charles E. Wilbour, a pioneer
Am e r i c an Egyptologist, pur-
chased these documents at Ele-
phantine in Egypt in 1893.
Scholars were completely un-
aware of their existence until
the trunk and its contents were
bequeathed to the Brooklyn Mu-
seum in 1947 by the last of Wil-
bour's heirs, his daughter, Theo-
dora.
Purely Commentary:
Passover's appeal is universal because it is hu-
man, and because it is concerned with the liberation
of the oppressed and the freeing of the enslaved. It
has a message for every clime and every era in his-
tory, because at all times, somewhere on this earth,
there are oppressors and oppressed.
It began in Egypt, and once again, in Egypt, there
is need for an Exodus, for the liberation of 40,000 of
our kinsmen who live in dread fear lest the political
uncertainties in that country should make the Jews
the scapegoats and the objects for wholesale mas-
sacre. While General Mohammed Naguib is showing
friendship for his Jewish "subjects"—there is no other
way of interpreting their position in a country that
begrudges them full citizenship—his own insecurity
does not add to their safety.
Indeed, among all Moslems, Jews are unsafe. Xeno-
phobia, dislike of the unlike, plays its destructive role
in Arab countries where hatred of Jews is multiplied
by opposition to Israel and bitterness towards .Zionism.
In the Soviet-dominated areas, a new antagonism
is in evidence. Russian anti-Jewishness has become
official, with Andrei Vishinsky's two vetos of pro-
posals intended to ease the hard position now oc-
cupied on the world scene by Israel. Russia now is
undeniably aligned with the Moslem bloc in the
United Nations. Israel's status thus is increasingly
endangered, and the security of Jews behind the Iron
Curtain is undermined.
War clouds in Israel, troubles in Eastern Europe
and in the Middle East, threats to peace in Indochina
and Korea, combine to spell trouble for all. What
hope is there this Passover?
It has come to pass that Israel's Ambassador to this
country, Abba Eban, has been forced to assert that
there is not a man, woman or child in Israel who is
"free of fear from attack," and that "there has been
a decrease in the willingness of our people to suffer
these casualties without response." This means repri-
sal—but the Jordanians have been the major offenders
in using force and have taken a high toll of Jewish
lives during the six years of Israel's independence.
While Israel pleads for peace, the Arabs continue
to threaten war, and the U. S. Delegate to the United
Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., finds •it necessary
to rebuke only Israel, as a UN member, for resorting
to reprisals. We concur in the view that reprisals are
damaging to all concerned, that there is no end to
vengeance, that retaliations lead only to troubles.
We deplore Kibya and Nahalin, but we protest against
the constant snipings and infiltrations which have
resulted in the hundreds of murders of Israelis by
the Arabs, and we ask Mr. Lodge: What about the
established right of human beings to defend them-
selves? Israel is now engaged primarily in defending
herself, and the democracies must exert some influ-
ence in granting the small state the right to live.
Blame for the troubles in the Middle East is not
ascribable to the Arabs alone. Expediency-seeking
world powers are equally guilty. There is only one
solution to the entire issue: Arabs must be compelled
to talk peace with Israel. The Big Three can effect
such negotiations—by action of the UN General As-
sembly, where a Soviet vote would be just another
vote, not a veto. When will our Government, together
with Great Britain and France and the peace-loving
nations, take necessary action in that direction? Is
the Arab Legion, under Britisher John Bagot Glubb,
more influential than the UN?
We go to the Passover Seder with sad emotions as
we ponder over these tragic happenings in the world
today.
WilLSoviets Relent?
Survey Offers Hope
U. S. TCA Lender Claims
Israel to Become Solvent
ABE KASLE is shown placing the cornerstone
America-Israel Society Opens D.C. Headquarters
WASHINGTON, (JTA) — The
America-Israel Society, formed
last month by leaders in all
walks of American life to fur-
ther cultural relations and good-
will between the people of the
United States and Israel, opened
TEL AVIV, (JTA)—Israel's
economy is making great strides
forward and will soon attain in-
dependence, Bruce McDaniel,
American administrator of
Technical Cooperation Adminis-
tration funds in Israel, declared
in Haifa before the America-
Israel Friendship League.
its national headquarters in
Hotel Willard here. The Society,
of which Governor Theodore R.
McKeldin, of Maryland, is pres-
ident, plans to open local chap-
ters in New York, Philadelphia, 2—DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Boston, Chicago and other cities. l
Friday, April 16, 1954
The Challenge to Freedoms on This Passover
of 5714; Men of Courage Help in the Retention
of Faith in the Struggle Against Totalitarians
Each Generation Must Vindicate Its Freedoms
There are threats to our freedoms in our own
country. Fortunately, there are men of courage who
refuse to tolerate guilt by association and who reject
intimidations by means of biased inquiries. An excel-
lent contribution to libertarian efforts has just been
made by a distinguished scholar, Dr. Henry Steele
Commager, professor of history at Columbia Univer-
sity, in a fearless series of essays incorporated in a
single book just published by Oxford University Press
(114 5th, NY11) under the title -"Freedom, Loyalty,
Dissent."
Each generation, Prof. Commager contends, must
vindicate anew, and for itself, "freedom of speech
and of the press—that is, . freedom of inquiry, criti-
cism and dissent." He points out that this is not a
misfortune but is, rather, "Providential wisdom," "for
there are risks in taking things for granted, risks not
only of failure to appreciate them but of failure to
understand them." He adds: "Freedoms vindicated
anew are more precious than those achieved without
effort, and only those who are required to justify
freedom can fully understand it." Isn't this exactly
the sentiment of the Passover Haggadah where we
read ("b'kohl dor vo-dor . . ."):
"In every generation, one ought to regard him-
self as though he had personally come out of
Egypt. As it is said: 'And thou shalt tell thy son
on that day, saying: This is on account of what the
Lord did for me when I went forth from Egypt.'
Not only for forefathers did the Holy One, blessed
be He, redeem, also ourselves did He redeem with
them. As it is said: 'And us did He take out from
there, in order to bring us hither, to give us the
land which He had sworn unto our fathers ."
When men come forth, as does Dr. Commager, to
warn against threats to liberty, we acquire new faith
in the strength of our society to survive threats to
freedoms. These threats exist. As Dr.'Commager points
out in his warnings: "This is no alarmist bugaboo;
it is a development already under way. Already civil
servants are afraid to read certain magazines or to
join certain organizations. Already teachers hesitate
to discuss certain issues in class . . It is with the
practical consequences to our society of the limita-
tions on freedom that we are concerned. We do not
protect freedom in order to indulge error. We pro-
tect freedom in order to discover truth. We do not
maintain freedom in order to permit eccentricity to
flourish; we maintain freedom in order that society
may profit. from criticism. We do not encourage dis-
sent for sentimental reasons; we encourage dissent
because we cannot live without it."
We are impressed with Prof. Commager's plea that
we should not yield to the temptation' of rejecting
"the long tradition of experimentation—the tradition
of taking risks, of gamblinc, on the intelligence, the
fortitude, the virus of the American people—and
embrace instead an elusive security. To quote him
again, from one of the essays in his "Freedom, Loyalty,
Dissent":
"We want guarantees that all of our teachers
in schools and professors in colleges and univer-
sities conform to our notions of loyalty and of
Americanism, forgetting that those societies—like
Nazi Germany and Communist Russia—that enforce
conformity on educators make irremediable mis-
takes, and that those societies Zike the English, the
Scandinavian, the Swiss, and — so far — our own,
which protect the freedom of the student and the
taacher and the scholar, survive and flourish.
"We want guarantees that our children will
By
Philip
Slomovitz
not be exposed to dangerous ideas, or even to 'con,
troversial' ideas, forgetting that all ideas are dan-
gerous and that only by familiarity with ideas can
children ever become adults capable of distin-
guishing between the true and the false.
"We want guarantees that every immigrant is
pure in character and in mind, and we subject
every potential immigrant to a most rigorous ex-
amination of mind, character, and morals, forget-
ting that all of us are immigrants or the descen-
dants of immigrants, and that neither the Pilgrims
nor the Puritans, with their records of non-corn-
formity and lawlessness, could obtain visas today.
"We want guarantees that all our organizations
are patriotic and loyal in membership and in pur-
pose, forgetting that few of the organizations that
carried through the major reforms of our history,
from the Puritan Church and . the Revolutionary
Committees on Correspondence to the Populist party
or the Committee to Aid the Allies, of recent years,
could pass our current tests ...
"In short we want security and certainty, for-
getting that 'certainty is an illusion,' and forgetting,
too, what Justice Holmes has admonished us, that
'the constitution is an experiment, as all life is an
experiment,' and that 'every day we have to wager
our salvation upon some prophecy based upon im-
perfect knowledge."
Thereupon, Dr._ Commager poses a natural ques-
tion: "Does all this mean that we are losing confi-
dence in the next generation, and its successors, and
looking to earlier generations for our salvation? Does
it mean that we are forgetting what was once instinc-
tive with us, that each generation must validate old
truth and discover new truth for itself, and that
each generation is as capable of doing this as were
past generations?"
We concur in this challenge and we hold that the
only danger to its assertion is that Justice Holmes and
Dr. Commager and those who agree with them may be
labelled Communists by those who seek to impose
their will and their totalitarian views upon this
nation.
Dr. Commager's views have important bearing on.
the issues of our time. In a sense, they fortify the
Passover message, which calls for fearlessness and
which defies totalitarianism.
But at this Passover season those who seek to ne-
gate truth and to limit our liberties are more out-
spoken. Therefore, the Passover message calls for
action, for outspokenness, for defiance of fear.
People are speaking up. The totalitarians may not
have gained as much ground as had appeared on the
surface a short time ago. The propagators of liberty
are raising their voices • anew. The threats to our
liberties on this continent appear a bit less threat-
ening as we gather for the Passover Seder—thanks
to men like Dr. Commager.
In the main, the situation is . grave. Once again,
the Pharoahs are on the march. But not for long,.
We have our anxieties, but we shall overcome them
as long as we do not permit them to be transformed
into fears.
Fear not, is the Passover message of 5714.
And without fears, our liberties will be secure
everywhere—on this continent and in the areas that
are presently clouded with war' threats.
Thus, we turn to the Passover with a retention of
faith, with rejoicing that man's desires to be free
can not forever be suppressed, that we shall, indeed,
have a joyous Passover,