THE JEWISH NEWS
Hanukah — 57/5
incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicie conhwencing with issue of July 20,1951
The Spirit of Judah Maccobee is Still Alive
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co , 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit. 35. Mich., VE. 8-9384
aniliscription $4 a year. Foreign S5.
Entered as s econd class matter Aug. 6, 1942, at Post Offiee, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3. 1879
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
SIDNEY SNMARAK
Advertising Manager
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
December 1'7, 1954
Page Four
VOL. XXVI. No. 15
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath. the twenty-third day of Kislev, 57)5, the ,tollawino Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Gem 37: 1-40:23. Prophetical portion, Amos 2:6-3:8.
Hanukah Scriptural selections: Monday. NUM. 7:1-17; Tuesda.y, Num, 7:18-29; Wednesday,
Rum. 7:24-35; Thursday, NUM. 7:30-41; Fricia.y, NUM. 7:36-47.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Dec. 17, 4:41 p.m.
Hanukah: 'Then a Miracle Was Wrought
The Talmudic reference to the miracle
of the Hanukah cruse of oil explains:
`!Commencing with the twenty-fifth day
of . the month of Kislev there are eight days
upon which there shall be neither mourning
nor fasting. For albeit the Greeks entered
the Temple and defiled the oil, it was when
the might of Hasmonean overcame and van-
quished them that, upon search, a single
cruse of undefiled oil sealed by the High
Priest was found. It was oil enough for the
needs of a solitary day. Then it was that a
miracle was wrought. The oil in the cruse
burned eight days."
This was the culmination of the great
deed commemorated by Hanukah. Its gene-
sis was in the Maccabean valor—in the cour-
age of a small group of people who defied
religious bigotry, who refused to submit to
degradation, who insisted upon being granted
the freedoms that are the inalienable rights
of all human beings.
The struggle for such liberties continues,
and the battles are being won by those who
refuse to bend their knees to false gods, who
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will not compromise with their conscience,
who hold their heads high and assert their
right to the free exercise of all human rights.
By assuring the survival of the Jewish
people, against the threats of Hellenism, the
triumph of the Maccabees also paved the
road for the rise and existence of ChriStian-
ity. Thus, the Hanukah miracle has univer-
sal significance. It eliminated tyranny and
thereby paved the way for freedom for all.
But the challenge to human ideas con-
tinues without interruption. There are al-
ways on hand men who are Hellenists at
heart, who dominate selfishly and whose
aims are to deprive their neighbors of their
basic rights. Against theSe, the call to Mac-
cabean valor remains an eternal duty for all Nobel Prize Winner Woksman's Thrilling Story
men of faith, good will and courage.
Our Hanukah greetings go to all who I
possess these qualities, to those who lend
courage to the fighters for freedom, to all
Dr. Selman A. Waksman was awarded the Nobel Prize for
peoples whose insistence on libertarian prin-
the
discovery
He is one of the world's great
ciples make possible the perpetuation of the scientists. But of he streptomycin.
also writes with facility, and narrates his
democratic ideals. There shall be no inter-
experiences with a 'sense of humor and
ruption to Maccabean valor.
with a charm that makes him stand out
My L i fe With Microbes
'
. Detroit Symphony S alutes Tercentenary
among the distinguished Jews of our
time.
His autobiography. "My Life with the
a challenge to all Jews to avoid desercrating
Microbes" (published by Simon and
the sacred night with the -hilarity that usu-
Schuster, 630 5th, NY20), has special,
ally accompanies NeW Year Eve celebra-
interest for the Jewish reader. It is as a
boy in Russia, as a student in Russian
tions.
and Jewish schools, that his narrative
The unusual occasion of the dedication
begins.
of the Symphony Orchestra's concert to the
He takes pride in his background and
Tercentenary should stimulate the planning
he speaks with reference of his family
of -parties • a -day • earlier and the arrange-
and his people, This reverence marks his
ment of house parties after the concert. In
entire life, and his story therefore
that fashion, the Sabbath will be kept sacred,
assumes a high note of dignity because
the New Year will be ushered in .joyously—
the esteem in which he holds his people
results in a great measure of self-respect,
although a night earlier — and encourage-
This Nobel Prize winner tells a fasci-
Dr. Waksman
ment will be given the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra for its fine gesture to the Jewish nating tale of his life with microbes. He smelled the soil as a
youth, seeking solution for man's ills. and he emerged a great
community by a large Jewish audience.
authority
in the field of antibiotics. ')-
In any event, it is important that the
ThroughOut his life he retained respect for his Jewish past
dedication of the Symphony concert to the
300th anniversary of the settlement of the and his family background.
His autobiography deals with his experiences in science and
first organized Jewish community in this•
country should' be marked by a very large with his travels throughout the world.
He paid great tribute to his teacher, Dr. Jacob G. Lipman, at
Jewish audience. We urge immediate plan- I
ring to fill the Masonic Temple, on Dec. 30, a leader in research,
His life story is concluded with a poem,"A Speck of Dust,"
in honor of Tercentenary and the Detroit
which proves the versatility of this distinguished scientist.
The recognition that has been given the
American Jewish Tercentenary . by Mich-
igan's leading citizens and public agencies
was highlighted this week by the announce-
ment that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra
will dedicate its concert on Dec. 30 to this
historic event.
-
With the eminent conductor, Paul Paray,
directing the concert, and with Claudio
Arrau as guest pianist, the Dec. 30 concert
will feature selections from the works of
Bloch, Copland and IVIendelssohn.
This is another occasion that should be
developed into an impressive community
demonstration in honor of the Tercentenary.
Organizations and individuals would do well
to organize parties for that night and to turn
the event into a series of celebrations.
The date of the concert suggests the pos-
sibility of the transfer of the traditional
New Year's Eve celebrations to the night
of the Symphony concert. The occurrence
of New Year's Eve on the Sabbath offers
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Symphony Orchestra.
Unfair Issue Inv olving Jewish Center
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The Jewish Community Center is being
subjected to unfair treatment in the discus-
sion revolving around the possible sale of
the Woodward building to the City for' a
recreational center.
Dating back at least two years, there
have been so many conflicting stories, so
many complicated comments by agen-
cies involved, that the confusion is worse
than confounded. In the meantime the false
impression may have been created that the
Jewish . Centers are manipulating to assure
a sale.
It is of the utmost importance, therefore,
in the interests of. communal dignity, that
the issue should be clarified.
The Jewish Center was prepared to sell
the Woodward Building, A very low price
was arrived at. Then the Planning Commis-
sion decided on the erection of an entirely
new structure to serve the youth of that
area. That should have ended the discussion.
But recreational facilities are needed there
immediately. Five Christian ministers said
so publicly last week. Another, the Rev.
James E. Wadsworth, -Jr., chairman of the
Citizens Committee Interested in the City's
Purchase of the Jewish Community Center,
saw fit to write this letter, reproduced here
from the Detroit Free Press:
I HAVE appreciated your paper's coverage
of the controversial issue of the acquiring of
the Jewish Community Center by the City of
Detroit.
It appears to me in this situation that we
have the wishes of our elected officials (the
Mayor and Common Council) and citizens
being overruled by appointed officials (City
Plan Commission).
Two years ago the Board of the Parks
and Recreation Commission recommended
the purchase of the Jewish Community Cen-
ter, it is greatly needed and the need is
immediate.
•
The elected officials and citizens are in
agreement that the Jewish Community Cen-
ter meets the need for an adequate recrea-
tion facility for the North-Woodward area,
but the City Plan Commission has ignored the .
wishes of the people and their - elected rep-
resentatives and have consistently voted
against the acquisition of this Center.
The cancer of dictatorship begins to eat
away a democracy when the people . and
their representatives no longer are able to
work together in the interest of the public
welfare.
It seems that we in Detroit are already
suffering the effects of this malady. There-
fore, it is evident that either our City Charter
needs to be revised or that new men need to
be appointed to the City Plan Commission—
men who would act in the best traditions of
democratic and dynamic Detroit.
In evidence, we maintain, are both un-
wisdom and injustice: a lack of wisdom in
treating the needs of the young people who
are in such dire need of a recreational cen-
ter, and a lack of fair play in emphasizing
the Jewish Center's name at a time when the
Center is not pressing the sale of its build-
ing. A ridiculous note was injected last week
with the suggestion that the Center building
should. be rented for the recreational pur-
poses of our city. The Center could not pos-
sibly sacrifice its present structure at a ri-
diculously low rental, especially because the
building's facilities still are in full use.
There should be an end to the nonsense
of involving the Jewish Center in the pro-
longed and unnecessary discussion over De-
troit's recreational needs. Either the Wood-
ward Jewish Center is purchased, in defiance,
if necessary, of the unwise decisions of the
Planning Commission, or all. talk of involv-
ing the Jewish Center is terminated. Any
other - course merely drags the important
Jewish agency into unfair treatment result-
ing from factually false discussions.
Berdyaev Hits Jew-Baiters,
Defends the Jews of Russia
A powerful indictment of anti-Semitism and condemnation of
bigots is contained in a small but very impressive book, "Christian-
ity and Anti-Semitism" by Nicholas Berdyaev (Philosophical Li-
brary, 15 E. 40th, NY16).
A commentary and explanatory notes by Alan A. Spears add
great importance to this essay, especially because of the biograph-
ical data about people referred to and quoted by the Russian
scholar,
Mr. Berdyaev challenges Christians who fail to live up to their
faith. He refutes claims made by Russian anti-Semites who, "living
in a condition of morbid emotion and obsession, allege that the
Jews rule Russia and oppress the Christians there." Saying that
this is "deliberately false," he states: "It was not the Jews in par-
ticular who were at the head of militant atheism; 'Aryan' Russia
also played an active part. I am even inclined to believe that
this represents a specifically Russian phenomenon. A nobleman,
the anarchist Bakunin, was one of its extreme representatives, as
was Lenin too . . . Lenin was not a Jew, neither were the principal
leaders of the movement, nor the masses of peasants and workers
who ensured the triumph of the revolution. Those who were Jews
have been shot or imprisoned. Trotsky has become the object of
an unanimous hatred ... That the Jews took part in a fight for
liberty I think was a virtue. That they too resorted to terror and
persecution I consider not the outcome of any specific Jewish
quality, but of hideous character of every revolution at a certain
phase in its development.' In fact, the Jews were by no means
Jacobins in the terror, and besides, they form today an impres-
sive percentage of Russian emigres."
Another deeply moving sentiment is expressed by Ma'. Berdyaev
in the following:
"I recall that at the time I was still in Soviet Russia the
owner of the house I lived in, who was a Jew, used often to say
14) me: 'You don't have to answer for Lenin being a Russian,
while I shall have to answer for TrottAkv being a Jew. Isn't that
a flagrant injustice? As things turned out, he had the good
fortune to return to Palestine. As for me, I am ready to accept
my share of responsibility for Lenin's coming to power."
Mr. Spears, in his equally scholarly commentary, declares:.
"Anti-Semitism in al.l its forms must be condemned by the Christ-
ian not only in its institutions, but in the personal Christian act
and in the flowering of the Christian spirit.-