It's Like Old Times Again
THE JEWISH NEWS
* • .
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20. 7951
1111embet American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich., VE. 8-9364
year. foreigr
ubscription
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich.. under Act of March 3, 1879
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural '', elections
This Sabbath, the eighteenth day of Sivan, 5714, the following Scriptural selections will be read
in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Num. 1 3 : 1 -1 5 :41 . Proph etical portion, Josh. 2.
Licht Benshen, Friday, June 18, 8:10 p.m-
VOL. XXV, No. 15
June 18, 1954
Ellis Island: The End of a Merciful Haven
The end of Ellis Island as a processing
station for new immigrants inspired the fol-
lowing editorial in the New York Times:
At times of momentous change in .a per-
son's life, like a marriage or birth or new job,
the mind stores up impressions with the per-
7nanence of lines cut on steel. .Years later,
when intervening periods have become con-
fusion, detailed pictures arise before the men-
tal eye of the far-off, fateful scenes and talk.
In millicrns of American heads there must be
such engravings of days or weeks spent on
Ellis Island. Even the children of immigrants,
who never themselves have seen the place,
must carry about imagined pictures of Ellis
Island from stories told by their parents. Some
memories are certainly full of excitement and
expectancy; others probably not so happy,
since at the height of its usefulness Ellis Is-
land was an unbelievably crowded, hectic
depot.
At any rate, the island will apparently
soon cease to be an immigration processing
station. There was a time, 1892, when spa-
ciousness was the virtue that made the immi-
gration people .change their station from the
inadequate facilities at Castle Garden in the
Battery. Now, spaciousness is the drawback. Im-
migration through New York, which once num-
bered over a million in a single year, has
dwindled to a handful, largely processed on
board.
Most of Ellis Island's twenty-seven and a
half acres is artificially filled-in land. The
island once amounted to only three acres and
was a picnic spot for Dutch colonists. It has
variously been called Oyster, Bucking and
(after 1765, when an infamous pirate was
hanged there) Gibbet Island. It has been own-
ed by private citizens and New York State,
which sold it ultimately to the Federal Govern-
ment for $10,000. Should the immigration peo-
ple find a spot better suited to their curtailed
operations we wonder what will become of
Ellis Island. Wouldn't the circular theories of
history be charmingly served if the island were
once again to become a picnic ground?
The great American newspaper under-
stands the importance of Ellis Island in
American history. But its true impression
can only be described by the millions who
have passed through it, by those who had fled
persecution and knocked at our doors for
safe haven, away from the indignities that
have dragged Europe through wars and hor-
rors which will be recorded in the records
of time as the worst examples of man's in-
humanity to man.
Ellis Island was not a place on which to
settle: it was a place to leave, •to abandon
for the blessed shores of our country—with
the coveted admission card which always
spells the great privilege of enjoying the
blessings of America.
But this Island has dwindled in impor-
tance. There are no more immigrants and
the few who henceforth will come to our
shores no longer will represent the great
masses of : people whose infiltration gave to
this land the genius that has accumulated
in all lands throughout the globe.
Now this Island, on which many tears
were shed, where so much scrutiny was
necessary for the screening of the new en-
trants—in order to assure for our country
-the best elements from all nations—and
where happiness was guaranteed to the for-
tunate who now are our fellow-citizens, is to
be a mere memory, and the proposal is that
it be turned into a picnic ground!
`The Russian_ Church and the Soviet
State' and the Church's Anti-Semitism
We need more picnic grounds. Our peo-
ple must be provided areas for recreation.
Dr. John Shelton Curtiss, professor of history at Duke Uni-
Our children must grow up strong in body versity, has studied and made use of original data in the prepara-
as well as pure in mind. By the same token tion of a book, "The Russian Church and the Soviet State (Little,
these children may prove to be better Amer- Brown & Co., Boston). He describes the shifting church-state
jeans through their understanding of the relationships is the USSR, traces attacks and counterattacks by
backgrounds which made this country great both, the defections in the ranks of clergy and the internal church
—the fact that our United States was a quarrels.
Prof. _Curtiss conclusions are exceedingly interesting. He
haven of refuge for the oppressed, and that shows how the church had gained status since the outbreak of
thepersecuted brought with them a passion the Russo-German war, thereby acquiring the most favorable
for freedom, thus enabling them always to position in two decades. The explanation possibly lies in this:
"Since June, 1941, the government has lavished favors on the
fight for just rights for,.all.
Russian Orthodox church, which, in turn, has strongly supported
It is futile to hope for a return to the the government both at home and abroad."
days when our doors were open to all, when
There have been some changing tendencies. Dr. Curtiss ex-
there were no passports, when people were plains: "From the beginning, Lenin and Stalin held that religion
considered wholesome material for citizen- was incompatible with communism and that the demise of reli-
ship on the merits of their willingness to gion would come only after long, persistent anti-religious propa-
the religious problem was never re-
earn a living by the sweat of their brows or ganda. On the other hand,
garded as one of great urgency, but as a matter that should be
the genius of keen and productive minds. subordinated to other, more vital matters: the survival of the
This is a new era, in which men and women Soviet regime during the civil war, the collectivization of agricul-
are judged with suspicion and are tested as ture, the winning of the war with Germany . . . Because the
security risks. We pray that this, too, shall question of religion and the church has been subordinatedto more
pass, and that we shall return to the days important problems, Soviet policy toward the Russion church has
of freedom when it no longer will be neces- been flexible, leading, in the last decade, to the granting of con-
favor to the church. Since the interest of the USSR
sary to fear the very air transported with siderable
would be currently furthered by a flourishing church, the church
immigrants. We pray for a return to the was aided to expand, to develop its theological schools, and to
principles which made it unnecessary for establish strong contact with Orthodox churches abroad. It
neighbor to suspect neighbor. for America reciprocated by supporting the Soviet and its foreign policy."
Nevertheless, the future does not hold out much hope for reli-
to fear an immigrant. For, the immigrant
was the builder of our country and Presi- gion is a constant element. Religion must be eliminated, sooner
dent Franklin D. Roosevelt was unhesitant or later. and above all it must not gain the younger generation.
in addressing the Daughters of the Ameri- Hence the growing drive to indoctr i nate the youth with a materi-
alist, godless outlook, even while the Russian church is encour-
can Revolution as "Fellow Immigrants."
aged to expand its activities. Probably to the leaders in the
We are not unrealistic. We know that Kremlin it matters little that some millions of middle-aged and
the era of Ellis Island has passed and that elderly people still believe, as long as the rising generations are
it will take decades for a restoration of the convinced materialists- ."
As in the days of the tsars, the Jews suffered the most from
security that was rooted in fearlessness. In Russian church anti-Semitism. There is much evidence in Dr.
order that the ideals of old, the blessings Curtiss' book to substantiate this. The author of this important
that came from immigration, may not be book shows how the church constantly attacked the Jews, linked
forgotten, we plead for a recording of the them with the Communist rulers, branded "Jewish-Masonry." We
story of Ellis Island as an indelible memory learn anew about the anti-Semitism of General Denikin and Gen-
eral Wranger, the slogans "Beat the Jews" used by the latter and
of a golden age in our history.
only "after representations had been made to General Wranger
concerning the danger of a pogrom, he issued orders against such
agitation."
In the early days of the USSR Dean Vostargov is quoted as
having appealed to the masses, "Bless yourselves, beat the Jews,
overthrow the People's Commissars." There were equivalent ap-
Israel, and all we can do is suggest the idea. peals
to hatred at many other gatherings.
But if the quest for control and the desire
But we have no information from this book as to the status
for presidencies is as strong there as it is of the synagogue in present-day Russia. Apparently the same
here, then we doubt whether implementation policy is applied to Jewish houses of worship as to Christian,
of the idea of fusing the three major Israeli although reports indicate that synagogue worshippers are in con-
stant fear of punishment for observing their faith.
schools of learning ever will be possible.
Proposal for Merger of 3 Israel Campaigns
It is heartening to learn that American
Jewish communities are viewing with favor
the plan for the merging of the fund-raising
efforts in this country for the Hebrew Uni-
versity, Technion and Weizmann Institute.
The details of the proposals advanced by
Meyer W. Weisgal, chairman of the execu-
tive council of the Weizmann Institute of
Science, are matters for consideration by the
planners of such a fusion • of effort among
those interested in Israel's high institutions
of learning. The proposed budget is subject
to study by those who understand the needs
of the three institutions. But the fund-rais-
ing overlapping is so evidently undesirable
that the idea inherent in the new proposal
should be accepted without hesitation.
There is something much more vital in-
volved in the new plan. If, as proposed, the
combined fund is to have a salaried presi-
dent who is to have the assistance of a single
staff that is to replace the presently-func-
tioning three staffs of workers and officials,
why isn't it possible to advance the idea to
Israel herself and to combine the three
schools under single management, thereby
effecting further savings in energy, in ad-
ministrative expenses, in overlapping staffs?
• This,. )16N:ever, is .an internal. mattei;.
llistory of the Jewish People'
Genocide Pact's Fate Wallis'
Aimed at reaching the college and high school students,
The United States and Great Britain re-
main among the great powers that have
failed to ratify the United Nations Genocide
Pact which declares it to be an international
crime for any people to destroy any other
racial or religious group.
It is ironic that Soviet Russia. should have
adopted the Genocide Pact, while the great
democratic countries—Great Britain and the
united States—fail to back it up.
The British and American delegates to
the UN have rendered lip service to the
Genocide Pact, but they have not acted:
It is not too late to mend this false atti-
tude. It is true that the USSR has made
reservations in its pro-Genocide Pact action.
But' the great democracies have not even
acted upon it. Justice demands that our
United States Senate take positive steps in
support .of- this great UN. measure , at •onee.
"Young People's Hebrew History" by Louis Wallis, published by
Philosophical Library (16 E. 40th, NY16), reviews in scholarly
fashion the story of the Hebrews from the time of the Israelites'
entry into Canaan to their classical era—that of the Prophets.
The author, who has dealt with the subject for 50 years,
hopes, with this study, to "encourage young people in their study
of the religious heritage of the Western World."
Prof. Leroy Waterman of the University of Michigan, one of
the scholars who has commended this study, bespeaks for it "a
very wide usefulness."
"All who lived throUgh the long suspense of Hebrew history,"
Mr. Wallis writes, "and all who, in subsequent ages, have sought
to benefit from or to understand that history, have in a sense
participated in paying the cost of ethical monotheism . . . Only
as we participate spiritually in the religious evolution itself, can
we begin to comprehend the words of the psalmist who, looking
back through the centuries, declares: 'Clouds and darkness are
round about him; but the righteousness and justice (mishpat) are
the foundation of his throne.' "
Appendices to this small but interesting volume include ex-
cerpts from Mr. Wallis' other works on "Israel in Goshen," "Mixed
Marriages and Canaanitish Israel," "Book of Judges and anti-
Baalism;"• "Oriental lCiti6g 'Always C*pyes€ivel", etc. •