Purely Commentary

Annual 'Stag Day'
Slated for Sept. 21

Hebrew Schools Start Registrations;
Dedicate Berman Building on Sept. 19

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

"Stag Day," the day when men
Enrollment in all branches of for the majority of Jewish dill-
When TR Called Russia's Bluff: His Kishineff Massacre Protest who worked in the 1954 Allied the United Hebrew Schools is ! dren in the community. Newly
Jewish Campaign will gather now taking place in time for the ' registered children should indi-
-
opening of the schools on Sept. cate, at time of registration, if
they require transportation.
8.
• liketn't
Branches of the United He-
Beginners classes in the ele-
mentary department start Sept. brew Schools are located at
Adas Shaiom, Beth Aaron, Bnai
13.
Since facilities in many of the Moshe, Esther Berman Bldg.,
branches are Limited, parents 8849 Linwood, Rose Sittig Cohen,
are urged to register their chil- Huntington Woods and Oak
Park at Burton School. For in-
dren as early as possible.
I formation call UN. 2-2200.
The course of study includes
Hebrew, the Siddur, holiday cel-
ebrations, customs and ceremon- Observe Anniversary
ies, Jewish music and literature Of Washington Letter
and Bar Mitzvah preparations.
NEWPORT, R.I., (JTA) — The
• •i tit . A
The United Hebrew Schools 164th anniversary of G e or g e
■ A • V. I/I
announce the opening of the Washington's famed letter to the
f• ■ ••••••" Icifj19 • 04
new Esther Berman Branch Hebrew Congregation of New-
H. Hagedorn
Oscar S. Straus
Illustration from
Building
at Schaefer and port was celebrated at Touro
Hagedorn's Book
together for relaxation and
Seven Mile Road.
Synagogue, now a national
good
fellowship,
has
been
set
for
Theodore Roosevelt was in the White House when the in-
The entire community is in- shrine. In that letter, the first
Sept. 21, at Franklin Hills Coun-
famous Kishineff pogroms shocked the conscience of the world. try Club, Milton K. Mahler, vited to attend the dedication President of the United States
TR already had written his Secretary of State that "the men- president of the Detroit Service of the building, Sunday, Sept. coined the phrase that has been
19, 8 p.m. •
famous since: "To bigotry no
dacity of the Russians is something appalling," in relation to the .Group announced.
Enrollment also is taking place
DSG is the year-round or- for special girl's classes which sanction."
Open Door policy which our Government advocated for China.
More than 1,000 people at-
But Russia was involved in double-dealing. On top of it came ganization of male campaign will meet twice a week, with tended the ceremonies. at which
workers. Activities of the day special emphasis on the practice
news of the Kishineff massacre. -
the Washington letter was read.
will include golf, swimming, of Judaism in the home.
Principal speakers included Gov.
TR's reactions are described by Hermann Hagedorn in "The games, dinner and an evening
A limited number of openings Dennis J. Roberts of Rhode Is-
program.
are still available for the pre- land, U.S. Senator Theodore F.
RooseVelt Family of Sagamore Hill" (published by Macmillan,
.A highlight of the evening
60 5th Ave., N.Y. 11). Hagedorn tells, in his splendid story of affair will be the honoring of school nursery, which meets Green, Mayor John J. Sullivan
mornings at the Schaefer Build-
the TR family, of American Jewry's demands for diplomatic ac- the leading division of the 1954 ing. Children between the ages of Newport, and a number of
tion against Russia. TR refused it, "sympathetic as he was with drive. The • division will be of 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 are accepted. local Jewish leaders.
This is the first time in 150
the humanitarian impulse behind the demand," knowing that he awarded- the trophy which was Transportation is provided.
years
that the Washington let-
captured' last year by the Serv-
Classes in the Hebrew High
could not enforce such a protest. Whereupon Jewish leaders ices Division led by Samuel J.
School will start Sept. 9, in the ter has been in Newport. It is
asked if he would forward a citizens' petition to the Czar, and Greenberg and John Isaacs.
Rose Sittig Cohen Building. presently owned by Morris Mor-
TR acceded.
CoMpetition for the award has Graduates of the elementary genstern of New York. •
In the press, the Russian Embassy stated that Russia would been keen among members of department of the schools, or its Library for Weekly Papers
refuse to accept such a petition "relative to its internal policy." the army of volunteers who equivalent, are eligible for en- Likely
After Senate Action
The President "boiled" over Russian "impertinence" of going over comprise the seven • trade and rollment.
WASHINGTON, (JTA)—A bill
A new bus has been added to
the head of customary agencies and of making the statement professional divisions. -
George D. Keil, chairman of the schools' transportation fleet, was introduced in the Senate by
in the press, and he wrote Hay that perhaps it might be "just as
bringing the total number of Senators Price Daniel and Lyn-
wise to show our teeth." The press received his statement that the DSG executive committee, vehicles in the system to 11. don Johnson, both of Texas. to
promises
a
divergent
day's
Russia was "unfriendly" and a breaker of promises,
schedule with activities to please Every major area of Jewish pop- establish a national library for
ulation is now being covered - weekly newspapers. English-Jew-
Anti-administration papers lamented what they called a everyone.
by this fleet, making it possible ish weeklies would be includ-
boner and predicted dire consequences. "Meanwhile," Hagedorn
Activities will begin at 10 a.m. to provide a Jewish education 1 ed, it was believed.
writes, "the President was not losing sight of the Kishineff peti- with golf. Reservations may be
tion. Root and Hay, at Sagamore Hill, begged him to "go easy." - made by calling Mrs. Lerner at
- "You've shown your willingness. Now let the incident be closed."
WO. 5-3939.
In view of the still unsettled Manchurian situation, why risk a
reaction from Russia which might put a further strain on Russo-
American relations? The petition would never be received any- Fight Attempt to Block
By BORIS SMOLAR
way."
(Copyright, 1. 954,_ Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Building of Synagogue

'

•

Between You and Me

,

Not averse to letting Russia know the thinking of Ameri-
cans about her barbarities, TR invited three leading Jews,
"among them Oscar S. Straus, later Secretary of Commerce. and
Labor, with Albert Shaw, the genial, witty., hard-headed editor
of the Review of Reviews," to luncheon at Sagamore Hill, in
mid-July. Shaw suggested that the- State Department should
take s the view that the Czar's government could not entertain
the petition. It should send it to the Ainerican charge in St.
_ Petersburg with instructions to tell •the Russian foreign min-
ister "that nur Government absolutely declines to transmit it
officially unless the Russian authorities are willing to receive
: it." By this procedure the RusSians, in spite of themselves,
would read the petition on its merits. They would thus learn
the sentiments of all Americans. Shaw spoke tongue in cheek,
uttering "a journalist's jibe," but to his astonishment the
President accepted his suggestion with enthusiasm. "He sat
down at his desk, and, in longhand, drafted a note to the charge
d'affaires and another for Straus to 'give
the Secretary of
State, asking him to cable the petition at once to the American
embassy in St. Petersburg."

to

The Russians declined to accept the petition, but read it and
knew its contents. To quote .Mr. Hagedorn:- "The Russians,
shames: before the world, took action to stop any further mas-
sacres. When, two years later, the Russian finance minister, the
great Sergei Witte, came to the United States, he went out of
his way to meet a group of leading Jews and to apologize to them
for the massacre."

Theodore Roosevelt had friendly relations with Samuel
Gompers, the president of . the American Federation of Labor.
Later in life he also befriended Felix Frankfurter.

Of "The Roosevelt Family of Sagamore Hill," Mr. Hagedorn
writes: "It is primarily a story; a story of a man and his wife,
the house they loved, and the six children they brought tip in
it." From the day in 1887 when T.R. and his second wife, Edith
Kermit Roosevelt, climbed the winding road to Sagamore Hill to
begin their married life, until 1919 when he died, the author has
captured the essence of this great American, of his children,
Alice (Mrs. Nicholas Longworth), Ted, Kermit, Ethel (Mrs. Rich-
ard Derby), Archie, Quentin, and of his household. Sagamore Hill
became the Summer White House but T.R. even while President
never relinquished his joy in tennis, breakfast with the children,
pillow-fights at night, or reading aloud with members of the
family before bedtime. Whether national hero, insurgent, or vice-
president, international peacemaker or "interventionist" T.R. re-
mained nature-lover, sportsman, concerned husband, interested
father. As Mr. Hagedorn portrays the man who was also the
friend of Owen Wister and the benefactor of Edwin Arlington
Robinson: "There was in him a seemingly inexhaustible ardor
that expressed itself in his love of life, love of action, love of
people, love of the natural world, love of heroic deeds, love of
family, love of country . . his ardor was beyond the ardor of
other men."
"The Roosevelt Family of Sagamore Hill" has deservedly been
chosen the Book-of-the-Month Club selection for August.
In. its entirely, this is a book about a happy TR family, about
a great American, about an important era in our history—thus
emerging as a valuable addition to the history of our country.

2—DETROIT JEW ISH NEWS

Friday, Angust ,21, 1954

NEWTON, Mass., (JTA) —An
effort' by • Mayor Howard I/SThit-
more, Jr., to prevent the erection,
of a new synagogue here is be-
ing fought vigorously in the
courts, • and will come before
Judge Jesse Morton in Suffolk'
Superior Court here.
AcCOrding to officials of Cong.
Mishkan Tefila, whose present
house of worship is in nearby
Roxbury, land on Hammond
Pond Parkway here - was bought
for the new temple last month.
On July 16, the Metropolitan
District Commission, by a vote of
3 to 2, voted to convey the land
to the congregation. A few days
later, the congregation contends,
the Newton Board of Aldermen
sent a resolution to the Mayor
calling upon him to appoint a
Board of Park Commissioners.
Newton had never had such a
board. The Mayor named the
board the very clay he received
the resolution from the 'Alder-
men. That day, also, the Alder-
men approved the Mayor's ap-
pointments. The new Park Com-
missioners, then, entered an ob-
jection to the conveyance al-
ready granted by the District
Commissioners, in spite of the
fact that the deed to the land
had already been conveyed to
the congregation.
Judge Jacob J. Spiegel, as
counsel for the congregation, ar-
gued the case preliminarily be-
fore Judge Morton last week, and
continues to press the case. The
congregation claims that: 1.
Mayor Whitemore's appointments
to the new Park Commission are
not legal; 2. Even if the ap-
pointments are legal, the law
provides that such new appoin-
tees can not take office until
next May.

Israel Needs 400,000
Pound Economic Budget

TEL AVIV, (JTA) — Israel
needs a budget of 400,000 Israeli
pounds for economic develop-
ment, ins t e a d of the 200,000
pounds approved recently by its
Parliament, Levi E.shkol, Finance

Minister, insisted.

Washington Notes:
United States officials claim that they see some prospect of
the Arab states adopting a less extreme attitude toward Israel. ..
This may be nothing but wishful thinking, but Washington hopes
that. the Arabs will refrain from moves that would unduly alarm
Israel • . . Some officials begin to show signs of concern about the
Israel reaction toward the possible consequences for the Jewish
State from the British agreement with Egypt on Suez and from.
America's arming of Iraq and Egypt . For the first time, State
Department circles agree that an Israel security problem exists ...
Up until now, the State Department stubbornly declined to admit
that the security of Israel might be affected by the above develop-.
ments . . . Now even Secretary of State John Foster Dulles seems
to show personal interest in Israel's argument that her security
has been affected . . . Mr. Dulles as much as indicated privately
that such a problem exists and should be discussed ... This change
of attitude on the part of the State Department is a result of the
recent conferences Israel Ambassador Abba Eban held with Mr.
Dulles and other high officials of the Department . . . At the same
time, the sentiment in the State Department is to avoid any pres-
sure upon the Arabs, but to try to win slowly and methodically a
more conciliatory attitude of the Arab states toward Israel . . In
fact, not only the United States, but also Britain and France will
try to avoid the raising of any of Israel's problems at the forth-
coming session of the United Nations General Assembly which
starts next month . . . This is why the Arab-Israel issue—very
much discussed during the last few months by the UN Security
Council—has not even been included in the Assembly's agenda ...
The Western Powers seem to feel that placing the Arab - Israel
problem before the General Assembly could be interpreted as
pressure upon the Arabs . The situation will be different if the
Arab states themselves insist on placing this issue on the agenda.
. . . Such a possibility is not excluded.

The Jewish Scene:
Reports that Dr. Nahum Goldmann, American chairman of .
the Jewish Agency, intends to leave the United States and settle
in Israel this year have provoked a great deal of interest both in
this country and in Israel . . . But I think I can safely state that
these reports are not to be taken seriously, and are incorrect .
They seem to be based on a statement which Dr. Goldmann made,
revealing that he is now building a house in Israel .. . In no way
did he indicate that he plans to move into this house this year .
In fact, Dr. Goldmann could not make such a move prior to the
next World Zionist Congress, since he is under obligations to the
world Zionist movement to hold his present post in New York until
the next Zionist Congress which will not take place before ,
the summer next year ... In the meantime, Dr. Goldmann has a
big job on his hands in the United States . . . He is returning next
month to New York, determined to bring the Zionists and
Zionists closer together in their efforts for Israel . . . His idea is
to have leaders of various Jewish groups in this country meet frord
time to time—as individuals and on a voluntary basis—and discuss
various aspects of the Israel situation . . . No decisions would be
adopted at these meetings, which will merely serve as a forum for
exchanging opinions . . . There would be no question of clominat7 J
ing or being dominated ... Most of the non-Zionist groups, inclw . Y
ing the Council of Jewish Federations and the Jewish Labor Con1,---\
mittee, are willing to cooperate with Dr. Goldmann in this project.
. . . The American Jewish Committee is thus far the only abstain-
ing group . • . Wiith his usual optimisni, Dr. Goldmann hopes to
win also the American Jewish Committee when he resumes bis

effort right after Rosh ,Hashanah.

