Ti tey Made a Promise • • •
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish ChRonicle commencing with issue of July 20. 1952
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press. Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish New Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich., Vg. 8-938.4
iubscription S4. * year. foreign $5
' blntered as second class matter Aug. 8, 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mjch., under Act of March 3, 1879
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SIDNEY SHMARAK
PHILIP SLOMOVIT2
Editor and Publisher
VOL. XXV, No.
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
Advertising Manager
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Page Four
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May 21, • 1954
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the nineteenth day of 'Var, 5714 the following Scriptural selection,.4 . 1i)ill he read in
our :synagogues:
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PentateuChal portion, Lev. 26:3-27:34. Prophetical portion, Jer.16:19-17:14.
Lag b'Omer is observed today,. Friday
Licht Senshen, Friday,: May 2L 7;51. p.m..
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,Future of Jewry: America's Inspiration
Two forces, Nazi-Fascism and Commu-
nism, are contributing to the disappearance
of many communities in Europe.
Russian Jewry already has dwindled from
3,000,000 to a figure now quoted as being
1,700,000. The latter is the result purely of
guesses, and even those who desire to be
linked with Jewry are not free to do so un-
der the domination of the hammer and
sickle.
Communist - dominated countries have
imposed so thick an Iron Curtain upon their
residents that those who remain there are
completely shut off from the sunlight that
might connect them with their kinsmen else-
where.
The tragedy of the disappearing Jewish
communities is reflected in a special report
sent to the New York Times by its corre-
spondent in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, who tells
of the belief of many Sarajevo Jewish com-
munity members that, in not many years to
come, "finis" will have been written to "the
saga of Jews of S4rajevo, one of the oldest
and most famous Jewish communities in the
Balkans." •
,
The 'Times' 'correspondent reports that -ot -
the relatively prosperous Sephardic com-
muhity of 10,000 Jews, most of them descen-
dants of the Jews who were driven out of.
Spain under Isabella and Ferdinand, during
the Inquisition,. only 600 remain today.
'Communist frowning upon religibus ob-
servance may have had something to do
with the community's decline. . The Times
story reveals the following:
established long afterward, the Jewish com-
munity of this city was best known in this
part of Europe because, of the famous hagadah
its founders brought with them.
"The hagadah of Sarajevo, one • of the
treasures of Jewry, is a brilliantly illustrated
document recounting the story of Passover.
It is on exhibit in the national museum of
Sarajevo. One of the members of the Jewish
community pointed out that preparations are
now being made to build up a museum of relics
of the Sarajevo community. 'That is all that
will be left soon', he declared, 'a museum'."
Such is the fate of the Jew—that when
he disappears from the scene his communi-
ties • become museums and life vanishes. We
have no doubt that even in dark Russia;
where Hebrew and Zionism are proscribed,
where there is no hope for Jewish cultural
aspirations, the Communists will not hesi-
tate to preserve Jewish objects—as long as
they can do it in a museum
which is indica-
.
tive of the death of the people represented
by the objects.
Jewry's tragedy. in Europe is a major one:
If it Were not for Israel, where 800,000 Jews.
were rescued from•a fate that. spells death,
either under the Fascist or the Communist
threats, there would be little left of European
Jewry. And if it were not for the Jewries in
the Americas and the .few other • remaining
democratic countries, we would, indeed, be an
impoverished people.
Responsibility for upholding our . tradi-
tions and the highest standards .we have in-
herited from our ',Prophets and Sages rests
'primarily upon the Jewries in the Americas;
in Israel, in England and in South Africa.
The
inspiration we can give tothe remnants
.``The neglected synagogue echoed
On the
who have survived the, Nazi. holocaust in
first night of Passover to the prayers of Yugo-
Europe will be the guide as to the future
slavia's only rabbi and 18 worshippers. At the
actions of the surviving communities.
city's only seder, there were 30 men and
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women. Only two children • took part in the v
service, one of them the son of the Israeli
Interestingly enough, while the disap-
Minister to Yugoslavia who was present with
pearing Sarajevo Jewish community has had
his wife.
a long history, American Jewry is only 300
Before the evening service began there was
years old this year. We ai e just coming of !
a Small reception in the tiny Jewish cultural
age. We are now becoming more firmly
clubroom opposite the synagogue. Many of the
rooted in established policies than We haye
Sarajevo Jews who took part in the reception
ever been.
were Communists who came out of conscious
In the launching of the American Jewish
self-identification but whose political beliefs
and party discipline forbid attendance at re-
Tercentenary celebrations, in our own city
ligious rites of any nature.
and in communities throughout the land, our
"These Communists departed before the
concern should be not merely to boast of
evening prayers at the synagogue. They were
past achievements but to aspire for the de-
not present, either, for the seder dinner in
velopment of •better schools, devotion to tra-
the clubroom where a picture of Marshal Tito,
ditions, loyalty to country and faith.
the Communist President of Yugoslavia, hung
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conspicuously on the wall lined with glass-en-
cased Jewish religious tomes.
Of, added interest is the fact that
"There has-keen one bar mitzvah since 1941,
English Jewry also is about to celebrate
when the Germans invaded Yugoslavia. A Jew-
the Tercentenary of the return of Jews to
ish elder said circumcision of Jewish male
England by order of Cromwell. In a sense,
infants was now a rarity. Many of the Jews
we thus become more closely linked with
intermarry and it was pointed out that the
the Jewries in English-speaking countries,
three sons of the rabbi had taken gentile
because all of us in these • lands had begun
wives.
our freedoms together.
"The great Sephardic Jewish temple was
demolished under German orders during the
To survive, Jewry must continue to live
'occupation. Another temple is now used as a
in accordance with the principles which have
dancing school. Ironically, the remaining
made us "a•nation of priests and a holy peo-
Jewish synagogue was built by the minority of
ple," "the people of the Book," the descen-
Ashkenazi Jews who came from Central Eu-
dants of the Prophets. By exerting our best
rope long after the more numerous Sephardic
efforts for the preservationof these ideals,
Jews settled here in their Migration from
we also shall be making the. best contribu-
Spain.
tions to the countries of our citizenship. It
"The first Jews came to Yugoslavia in the
second century, 400 years before the Slays.
this spirit that We must re-dedicate our
The oldest Jewish settlement in Yugoslavia is
lives as we observe the American Jewish
in Dubrovnik on the Adriatic coast. Although
Tercentenary.
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Call for Re-Dedication to Allied Campaign
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When first reports began to indicate
generous giving to the Allied Jewish Cam-
paign, we expressed the hope that workers
in the drive would avoid yielding to com-
placency that usually accompanies early
triumphs in fund-raising.
At the re-dedication campaign rally on
Monday, which will be addressed by the dis-
tinguished Israeli leader, General Yigal
Yadin, a serious effort will be made to as-
sure a successful close of the 1954 drive in
'which :a minimum of $5,000,000 must be
raised if Israel is to receive additional funds
from the United Jewish Appeal, the Allied
Jewish Campaign's major beneficiary.
It is urgent that there should be no eas-
ing off in solicitations; that all prospective
contributors should be reached; that the
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'Religion Behind the Iron Cu rtain'
Dr.'Shusfer
.
s Re velafions and
Plea for New Hu an Concepts
Dr. George N. Shuster, president of Hunter College, a former.
editor of the Catholic liberal maga ine Commonweal, paints a
disturbing picture Of conditions in Rus sia as they affect all faiths )
in his new book, "Religion Behind the Iron Curtain" (Macmillan).
Fully documented, backed up by facts, Dr. Shuster,. exposes
the tragic cond "Lions in Russia, the biased
trials, the dif ficulties encountered by
Catholics, Prote tants and Jews in their
efforts to surviv e as religious entities.
Dr. Shuster opens his account with : -
words that indic ate the _sadness of the
situation: "this is not a pleasant book.'
An able 'historian, he describes the back-
ground of the po sition of religious ele-
ments behind the I on Curtain in a chap-
ter "Historical Pers pective," and proceeds
to analyze the issue by describing condi-
tons in Eastern, Ger many, Czechoslovakia,
Yugoslavia. Poland, H ungary, Albania and
the Balkan region, a nd devotes a special
Dr. Shuster
chapter to "Jewry Under Soviet Rule,"
Concisely, using the facts gathered by au thoritative persons,
Dr. Shuster analyzes the tragic position of J ews . in Russia, the
false charges leveled against them both by those who accuse
them of fostering Communism as well as.by Corn munists who seek
to uproot Jewry. He reviews the Soviet anti-Zi onist policies and
describes former Israel Ambassador Golda Myer son's experiences
in the USSR. He concludes:
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"The tragedy of the Jew in Russia and Central Europe
To have been
which Communism controls is heartrending.
ground between the two millstones of •totalitari an oppression;
to have hoped that escape from one might mean salvation, and
then discover that the other was almost equally implacable;
to have been sealed off from virtually all associatio n with world
Jewry, and left to find that the treason of dissente rs from Jew-
ish tradition everywhere bred new armies of the hostile and
the venomously critical; and to have stood by helpl ess while all
vestiges of hallowed religious and community livin were sys-
tematically destroyed — these are some of the evils, apart. from
the blighted hopes for emigration, dire poverty, and the con-
stant threat of forced labor, from which the Jew ha s suffered
in a dark time."
Dr. Shuster reaches the decision that "unless tota 1 and all-
destructive war should be unleashed as a consequence of what
would be the most calamitous accident in history, there will be no
major change in the political and social alignments now existing
in the world." But, he also states that if "the Covenant o Human
Rights and the stillborn Genocide Convention (the latter h as been
approved by Russia since Dr. Shuster's book was publish d) . .
were adopted and vigorously advocated it would, as an ide a, gen-
erate so much radiant force that it would in the long rui cease
to be merely evolutionary and would become truly revolut ion ary .
. . . Why not, therefore, when a new concept of human rel ations
is in our possession, develop and use the resources whic h are,
latent in it?"
Novel About Early Zionist Pionee rs
The •husband and • wife writing team, Benedict and Na ncy
Freedman, has produced another novel, "The Spark and the Ex-
odus," just published by Crown (419 4th,'N.Y. 16). It is the sto ry
of a group of young boys and girls in Russia, in 1906, who soug ht
freedom by means of settlement in Palestine.
In the midst of a revolutionary era under the Czars, tiles
young folks were different: they thought of liberation through
Zionism. They had to work secretly, Zionist efforts having been
proscribed by the Czar. But they managed to gather enthusiasm
within the small group and they ,set out on a 1,500-mile journey
to Zion.
There were many difficulties, before they started, and they
were constantly in danger. A half-Jew .spied on them and they
feared he would expose them. Later, he joined them on the Zion-
ward journey. .
,Then came the trying venture—the travels through forests,
illnesses, despair; but they finally reached their goal. Some were
separated from them before reaching Odessa on the final lap of
their journey. But all were reunited in Palestine.
The authors display an excellent sense' of humor. Their tale
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is not all sad: there are many hurnorouS'inciderits which enliven ',;,
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the story and add to its merits as an interest-holding novel aboUt
the .earliest young pioneets who -helped establish the foundation• . : -
necessary additional sums should be secured
in this year's great campaign effort.
The excellent beginning. the continued
progress in the drive, the devotion of the
volunteer workers—all point to a good re-
sult—provided not a single prospect is over-
looked and all Detroit Jews are given the
proper opportunities to share in the great
effort to assure uninterrupted local and na-
tional activities and unhindered overseas aid
—through the causes aided in our one-time-
giving campaign.
The Allied Jewish Campaign leaders and
workers have rendered great service in this
drive. We are confident that they will con-
tinue their efforts until the job is success-
for Tsrael.
fully completed. •
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