Glad to Know You Better
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of Julp 20 1951
• entriet American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Association.
Publisheit every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co.. 17100 West Seven Mile Road. Detroit ab. Mich_ VE. 8-9364
*inscription 34. a year, foreign *5.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6. 1942. at Post Office. Detroit. Mich„ under Act of March 3, 1870
PlrifLIP SLOMOVITI
Editor end Pubtratter
VOI. XXV
No 20
SIDNEY StiMARAK
Advertising Manager
Page Four -
•
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
July 23, 1954
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath. the twenty-third day of Tammuz, 5714, the folloWina Scriptural :selections
will be read in our synagogues:
Pciitateuchal portion, NUM. 30:2-32:42, Prophetical portion, Jer.
Licht aenshen, Friday, July 23, 8 p, m. *
A Time to Rescue Our Spiritual Heritage
America's Jewish communities are taking
a breathing spell for fund-raising during
the summer weeks. But before very long the
hub-bub and the tumult of campaigns will
commence anew.
It won't be very long before nearly every
group in our midst—small and large—un-
doubtedly will repeat past performances and
will launch the drives which have created
the impression that fund-gathering is the
only thing that matters in our existence.
The multiplicity of campaigns has caused
many of them to assume the forms of ap-
paritions. And because there are so many
causes that are justified in their fund-rais-
ing efforts the danger of magnifying the less
worthy aggravates the ghost phantasm and
creates • a problem of the very word cam-
paign.
When that new season of fund-raising will -
begin again—the cycle always starts on the
eve of Rosh Hashanah—it will be time once
more to take stock of our resources and to
ascertain with definiteness whose campaigns
are justified and which should either be elim-
inated or merged with related funds.
We are not deluded even by the remotest
hope that there may arise in our midst
enough people of courage who will strive to
eliminate the unworthy and to consolidate
the vital causes. This is, at the moment, a
hopeless and thankless task. Vested interests
in some national organizations will not aban-
don power. Some local fund-raising groups
undoubtedly will refuse to give up their iden-
tity which depends almost totally upon hav-
ing projects—and projects "call for fund-
raising.
But the responsible elements in the Jew-
ish community must concern themselves with
the multiplicity of campaigns before the ma-
jor causes—the United Jewish Appeal and
the scores of national and local institutions
which are included in our Allied Jewish Cam-
paign—are harmed by the confusion that
must accompany too many drives.
* •
*
The saddest commentary of all upon such
a multiplicity of appeals for funds is, as we
have already indicated, the impression left
by them that Jewry - exists only for money
collection purposes. There is a lack of the
very spirit of our people in such a trend which
abandons all cultural values. The fund-rais-
ing tempos have created a need for enter-
tainment that at times sinks to so low an
ebb that all our traditions are shattered,
every vestige of dignity disappears and Jew- ,
ish life assumes bu•soue aspects.
Our community's best interests demand a
change . in unhealthy conditions which cause
fund-raising to dominate over all cultural as-
pects. We need a new type of campaign: to
educate our people to embrace new interests,
involving study and discussion, in preference
to the constant sponsoring of money-gather-
ing projects. It has come to pass that edu-
cational institutes planned by important
movements have had to be cancelled because
Rep. Bolton and Israel
Congressman Frances P. Bolton of Ohio,
who has been charged' with spearheading
anti-Israel activities, in Congress, has writ-
ten a long letter to the Jewish Review and
Observer of Cleveland in which she denies
the allegations and maintains that she has
been and remains a staunch friend of the
Jewish state and a supporter of aid to it.
It is encouraging to read her statement
in which she indicates that matters which
created doubts in her mind have been clari-
fied. Such clarifications give validity to the
editorial comments in the Cleveland paper
that Americans have a right to make their
views known to representatives in Congress
and that Jews have a right to a positive at-
titude towards Israel's problems of security
and economics. It is by adhering to such
rights that we arrive at the truth and get
the best results in efforts to cement friend-
ships between democracies like Israel and
the United States.
of an insufficient interest and a lack of en-
rollees, while calls to sponsor "projects" al-
ways get responses without examination of
merits of campaigns which could easily be
fused jnto existing efforts in support of wor-
thy movements.
.
This is not a popular approach to our cur-
rent human reactions, else the problem al-
luded to would not exist. The truth is that
our communities have never forsaken any
person or cause. The worthy are always
cared for. But many a worthy cause is ex-
ploited in the interest of activity and the en-
ergy and expense involved prove unworthy
of the result. It is this traditional plunging
into "projects" that needs study—and elim-
ination.
Such study is a vital necessity in our time
because the fund-raisers have unrealistically
captured the communities and have caused
the spirit of Jewish idealism to be 34:)legated
to the background. Unless there is a revival
of interest in the highest spiritual values of
our people, in learning, in a re-embracing of
our prophetic heritage, we shall be recorded
as an ignorant generation. There still is time
to rescue our inheritance and to nass it on
to our children with honor and dignity.
* -
If we act, we will not only save our hon-
or and our heritage, but we also will protect
the future position of our communities. The
cry "wolf, wolf," which is the natural result
of mistrust that creeps in when there are too
many conflicting campaigns, may have the
tendency of harming the most vital fund-
raising efforts. Firm action in correcting the
present unhealthy condition will avoid such
a calamity. This, therefore, is the time for
drastic moves in the direction of curing our
sore spots—even if they hurt those whose
unnecessary drives must be eliminated.
Then, if we put our houses in order in
communal planning, we shall be able to de-
vote ourselves to the educational needs '
which alone protect and enhance our spirit-
ual heritage. The challenge is at hand. The
answer must come at once.
- Important Merger
Thrilling Adventure: 'The Life
and Times of -Gen. Two-Gun Cohen
Charles Drage, whp spent most of his life in the British Navy
and who met Morris Cohen 30 years ago 'while on duty In the Far
East; recognized areal personality in the man who became known
worldwide as the Two-Gun General, and he has set down the story,
as told to him by the hero himself, in "The Life and Times of
General Two-Gina Cohen," now published in this country by :Funk
and Wagnalls (153 E. -24th, NY10).
Mention of this book already was made in The JewishNewS
Commentary column on June 4. It was a passing mention at the
time. The book deserves real attention and should have a wide
reading public.
Moishe Cohen is a lively figure on the world Arena. In the
juicy narration, the spirit of which was caught with literary skill
by Drage, he relates about Cohen's early youth, his pranks, his rim-
ins with police, his prize-fighting career, and his eventual settle-
ment in Canada. There, too, he had escapade after escapade, and in
all instances he showed a sense of justice to the underdog. It was .
in 'the course of such experiences that he befriended the Chinese,
who he defended, and they embraced him as a friend. He was
enrolled as a member of their secret organization and later. when
he met Sun Yat-sen and was asked to be his bodyguard, his future
career was carved out for him: he became a leader in Chinese
'freedom movements, rising to the rank of General in their forces.
China became his second fatherland. He worked with all of
the , country's leaders. After Sun's death he was associated with
Sun Fo, Chiang Kai-shek and Li Chai-sum. He saved Sun's life
and risked his own. Be acquired ammunition and funds for the
Chinese and sacrificed his :own interests in the course of his
activities.
,He always retained his Jewish loyalties and refused to marry
a Chinese woman. When Tan Yen-kai„ then Chief Secretar: - of
the Kuomintang, asked why he does not choose a Chinese girl
and get married, he replied: "No, Tan, it's no use. A good
Chinese girl would never marry a foreigner and a .bad`Chinese girl
I don't want." "Quite right," was Tan's reply as the whole table at
which they were seated stood up and toasted him.
In the book's Epilogue, Drage writes that Cohen "met and
married Judith, a strikingly handsome middle-aged lady of his
own people, the owner of the largest dressmaking' establishment
in Montreal and the leading couturiere in ' -hat city. Our wives
liked each other at sight and as quiet, respectable, middle-aged
couple.: as disported ourselves in London. Morris and Judith are
perfectly matched and in those dreary days it was a rare pleasure
to see any two people so Wholeheartedly happy."
Cohen, according to this fine story, met and befriended N. E. B.
Ezra, who then published Israel's Messenger in Shanghai. Ezra
"managed to persuade -Dr. Sun (who was always rather cagey
about putting his views on paper unless he horoughly 'inderstood
the question) to write him a personal letter for publication in
his paper, supporting Zionism and the Jewish National Home in
Palestine."
Drage pays great tribute to Cohen as a man of "uncompromis- -
ing honesty," of shrewdness, of having acted as a father-confessor
in mending many marriages in spite of the occasional bawdiness
of his conversation. He writes: "His name was on most men's lips,
and if, his real. place in Chinese history was hard to estimate, his
purely military prowess had not gone uncommemorated. One
bitter winter morning, wandering through a Shanghai suburb in
search of an elusive White Russian acquaintance, I had found my-
self treading the mud and slush of the 'Route Cohen.'"
There are many anecdotes to enliven the book—all told by
Cohen himself. "The Life and Times of General Two-Gun Cohen"
is a very human story and is eminently worth reading.
Another step in the direction of advanc-
ing our educational activities,. by means . of
eliminating overlapping, was taken last week
wheii . the Sholem Aleichem Elementary ;.
School affiliated with the United Hebrew
Schools:
This move makes it possible for the Sho-
lem Aleichem School "to continue to serve
the segment of the community which has a
positive approach to Jewish life with -- an
orientation both to Hebrew and Yiddish." ;
At the . same time, the United Hebrew
Schools' position is strengthened by its ac-
quisition of authority to supervise another ,
school system.
In most communities, there are special
Education Bureaus 'which guide the activi-
ties of all school systems. It is different in•,
our community. Here the United HebreW
Schools are recognized as the community
schools. The extension of their authority is
a necessary step in the direction of eliminat-
ing chaos, of arriving at proper curricula Arnold Posy's Stories for Youth.
and of elevating the standards of our edu-
cational systems.
Utilizing the Peter Pan method, the characters portrayed by
The latest merger is valuable also from Arnold Posy in his new book, "Holiday Night Dreams," (Bloch)
another angle: the need for encouraging are carried enthusiastically through the air as they enact the
young Jews to train for the Jewish teach- stories and fantasies from Jewish folklore.
Notable Jewish heroes are • delineated here for the young
ing profession and of assuring them the
largest and best possible field of activity reader, as Mr. Posy deals with the various festivals, with Elijah,
and opportunity in such aspirations. A mul- with Moses, with the first Biblical figures who are described in
tiplicity of schools may create unnecessary the story, ."The Creation of the World," with the Golem and the
bidding for teachers, whereas a clear field will Maharal, and a score more.
The reader is introduced to the wonders of Jewish folk tales,
enable the leader in the field—in our com-
the legend of the creation of the clay Golem, to the story
munity's instance, the United Hebrew to
about a simple weaver, Leibele, whose likeness to St. Francis of
Schools—to advance the facilities for teach- ,Assisi
caused a spreader of untruth to confess guilt of having
er training.
plotted to destroy a Jewish community. Leibele's pleading with
From every point of view, the newest the Pope, the Maharal's creative genius, the battle on many fronts
affiliation is a step to be commended and of Right against Might, combine to • form. a good collection of
t stories.
to be welcomed as a necessity in our com- shor
liella Arensen illustrated Posy's "Holiday Night Dreams.",:
munity's cultural planning.