Welching on a Responsibility.
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
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, 8-9364
Subscription $4 a year, Foreign $5.
1879
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3,
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
Page Four
VOL. XXVI. No. 16
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
December 24, 1954
Sabbath Hanukah Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, Sabbath Hanukah., the following Scriptural selections will be read in our syna-
gogues.
Pentateuchal portions, Gen. 41:1-44:17, Num. 28:9-15. Prophetical portion, Zech. 2:14-4:7.
On .Rosh Hodesh Tebet, Sunday, the Scriptural reading will be Num. 28:1-15,
On Monday, the last day of Hanukah, Num. 7:54-8:4 will be read.,
Licht Benshen, Friday, Dec. 24, 4:45 p.m.
Anti-Israelism Breeds Anti-Semitism
James Luther Adams, who since 1946
has been Caleb Brewster Hackley professor
of religious ethics at the Meadville Theolo-
gical School of the University of Chicago
Federated Theological Faculties, has re-
turned from a visit in the Middle East with
a warning that there are hidden dangers
in anti-Israel-ism which must lead to an anti-
Semitism inspired by super-nationalism.
In a thorough discussion of his theme in
the Unitarian Christian R e g i s t e r, Prof.
Adams reviews the reports on Israel and her
Arab neighbors by Christian leaders and
reaches these conclusions:
we should .be aware of the way in
which an Anti-Israel position is increasingly
being made a part of American anti-Semitism.
We do not need to cite alone the activities of
such fringe groups • as Liberty Belles and the
Minute Women. The anti-Israel and the anti-
Semitic views of these and similar people in
the United States can be as destructively na-
ationalistic as anything in the nationalism of
the Middle East. It feeds on the 100% Ameri-
ean super-patriotism of the current hysteria.
Thus whereas Arab anti-Israel sentiment helps
oligarchic rule and Communism in the Middle.
East, American anti-Israel sentiment, especial-
ly when combined with anti-Semitism,
nourishes racist erypto-Fascism in the United
States. Where it does not do this in the United
States it often moves into isolationism.
The drift of much of the so-called impar-
tiality and objectivity and of the stress on
American "interests" is scarcely conducive to
the creation of peace with justice. The Yid-
dish writer, Y. L. Peretz, has conceived a para-
ble that indicates this danger. This is the par-
able of "The Pious Cat." "Three songbirds," he
writes, "successively occupied the same cage,
and each in turn succumbed to the cat. It was
no ordinary cat. She was a truly pious sciul.
It was not in vain that she wore her White,
orthodox gabardine, and owned those little
eyes which reflected the light of heaven. It
was a pious cat." But it reasoned that "the
very fact that the bird has been set in a cage
proves that it is an evil being, although so
young, so sweet, and such a fine singer—
GC
Enriching Gifts
The allocation of a sum of $590,000 for
the construction of Jewish Centers in Oak
Park and the Evergreen-Seven Mile Road
sections and the provision of funds for the
expansion of the Jewish Home for Aged
and the removal of North End Clinic to
Sinai Hospital, announced by the Metropoli-
tan Detroit Building Fund Drive, point to
greater progress in the fields of social service
in our community.
Lack of facilities in the health, recrea-
tion and, care for' aged areas have handi-
capped activities in our community. Now,
with the funds to be provided by the Metro-
politan Detroit Fund and by additional gifts
from - the Jewish community, the gaps are
certain to be filled.
There is an urgent need for Jewish Cen-
ters in the expanding Oak Park section and
in the Evergreen area. The hopes of our
community's leaders to be in position to ful-
fill these needs now will be realized.
The plans for the expansion of the Jewish
Home for Aged are of equal importance, in
view of the large number of applications for
admission to the Home and the long waiting
list of approved applicants for whom there
are, thus far, no facilities.
The allocation of $870,000 for the re-
moval of the 40-year-old North End Clinic
to Sinai Hospital serves to recall the im-
portant services rendered the community by
this health center, which was operated for
decades on Holbrook Street. By providing
for the needs of men and women of all faiths
and all races, North End Clinic acquired an
honored place in our community. Its re-
moval to Sinai Hospital will enable it, in
enlarged quarters, to render greater service.
Added to the recent most generous gift
of $500,000 by Mr. and Mrs. Nate S. Shapero
for the establishment of a school for nurses
at Sinai Hospital, the enlarged North End
Clinic now is part of a vital health program
which will enrich the Jewish . community
and all of Detroit.
proves that it believes more in dynamite than
in the Law. And what about the singing it-
self: that unrestrained singing, that whistling
—and that impudent staring right into the sky
—and that tearing to get out of the cage, into
the sinful world, to the free air, the open win-
dow? And a sacred fire flared up in the cat—
the fire of Pincus, the son of Eleazar, the son
of Aaron, the priest, and she sprang upon the
table where the cage with the songbird was
standing, and—feathers were fluttering about
the room." The bird had disappeared.
And so it is that a "pious" one-sided anti-
Israel position can issue in a destructive anti-
Semitism. It can also promote the destructive
rejection of "the fact of Israel," a fact in the
face of which we Americans should adopt a
critical, morally responsible attitude and policy.
The lesson for all Americans is plain. The at-
titude of the United States towards the Near
East and Israel is no incidental matter; it is
a litmus test for the health of the American
spirit and also of the healing forces which can
bring peace with justice in the Near East.
These views deserve serious considera-
tion, especially because of the apparent lack
of conviction in matters involving the arm-
ing of the Arabs in important government
quarters in 'Washington.
Prof. Adams' warning that anti-Israelism
breeds anti-Semitism should be brought to
the attention of responsible leaders of both
our political parties. There is added cause
for concern over the arms issue in the JTA
report from Washington that the South
Carolina Democrat, Rep: James P. Richards,
who will be the next chairman of the House
Foreign Affairs Committee, supports the
present U.S. policy of granting arms to the.
Arab nations. Together with the man he
succeeds to the chairmanship of the House
Affairs Committee, Republican John M.
Vorys, Rep. Richards has just visited Israel
and the Arab states and has urged continua-
tion of the arms-to-the-Arabs policy "re-
gardless of pressure groups." He has said
that he was "not at all in favor of efforts to
stop military. aid to the Arab states" and
that he believes it is "in our national in-
terest" to provide the Arabs with munitions.
Impartial observers and students of Mid-
dle Eastern affairs bring contrary reports.
It has been shown that the Arabs have
created a war-like situation in that area
and that they have failed. to establish per-
manent homes for the refugees who had
fled voluntarily from Israel. But granting
that there is some truth even - in the ex-
tremely unfavorable reports abOut Israel's
relations with -the- Arabs, there remains the
moral issue. The arming of the Arabs will
mean an increase in war threats in the en-
tire Mediterranean 'area. It will continually
breed a spirit of war and not of peace. It
does not, in any sense, counteract Commu-
nist propaganda which is mainly spread in
Arab lands and among Arabs in Israel by
Arab propagandists. • •
What is even worse for the peace of the
world is that anti-Israelism, as Prof. Adams
has indicated, encourages anti - Semitism.
This can give encouragement to a revival
of Nazism and the fomenting of another war.
Many members of both Houses of Con-
gress have gone on record in opposition to
the arming of the Arab states. Last week,
the national convention of CIO, in Los An-
geles, called on our Government to end the
arms shipments to the Arabs and to use its
good offices with Israel and the Arabs to
bring about direct negotiations "so that
peace may be established in the Holy Land."
The American Federation of Labor has
taken a similar stand. Men of good will,
seeking peace, have gone on record against
sending arms to war-mongers.
At this time, when Christians everywhere
are preaching "good will on earth," the posi-
tion to be taken by all who seek amity is
that a weak nation, surrounded by war-
mongers, must not be endangered by the
arming of its enemies. The best message
of good will to Israel, by the Christians of
the world must be the assurance that those
who aim at Israel's destruCtion will not be
encouraged.
This is our plea for peace as we send
forth messages of good cheer to our
, Chris-
tian neighbors.
410
Dr. Sol Liptzin Throws New
Light on Heinrich Heine
"The English Legend of Heinrich Heine" (Bloch) by Dr. Sot
Liptzin offers a most interesting analysis of the manner in which
the eminent German-Jewish poet was first rejected then heartily
acclaimed in England.
Prof. Liptzin has delved into every available source to gather
the interesting material for his fine book. He throws a great deal
of light on reactions to Heine, the poet's conversion, his complexes,
and incidentally we learn about Carlyle's animosity to Jews and
therefore his hatred for Heine and Charles Kingsley's bitterness
towards the German poet.
Heinrich Heine
Dr. Sol Liptzin
Other Englishmen, however, succumbed to the poetry of Heine,
and several of them accepted him and recognized the genius
his poetry—among them George Eliot, Julian }Pane, Israel Zang.
will, Matthew Arnold.
In this country, Ralph Waldo Emerson was among those whO
disapproved of Heine, but that proved an isolated case. To Watt
Whitman, Heine was great, and Emma Lazarus, and in our genera-
tion Louis Untermeyer, wrote in glowing terms about the poet.
The chapters on Heine as the "wandering Jew are especially
interesting in Dr. Liptzins evaluation. We learn that "the typical
English reaction to Heine's Jewishness was nearer to that of Rich-
ard Monckton Milnes: ,calm, judicious, unaffected by love, um-
marred by malice." At the same time it is interesting to know
that: "The British Quarterly Review wrote that Heine's strength
and his real service to humanity sprang from his JeWish roots.
William Cory, the author of `Ionica,' stated that Heine as a JeW
interested him but that Heine as a German meant little to him.*
Israel Zangwill undertook to reclaim Heine for the Jewish peo-
ple and included him among the characters in his "Dreamers of
the Ghetto." We learn also that Heine "deeply regretted" his apos-
tasy, that "he envisaged the religion of the future as Judaism
broadened by Hellenism, the beauty of goodness mated with the
goodness of beauty."
Heine is presented to us as the "gifted bard" of democracy.
In the main, Prof. Liptzin has written a truly instructive and
illuminating work and throws new light on the character of Heine
and the reactions to him in the English-speaking world.
a
Modern 'Ani Maamin'
Rabbi Swift's 'Because I Believe'
The "ani maamin"—"I believe"—is the root of Jewish affirm-
ation in the highest spiritual values, in principles of justice, in the
Almighty Powers that hover over us.
The sermons and articles of Rabbi Harris Swift, published by
Bloch as his exclusive U. S. selling agents, is a modern "aril
maamin." It is an affirmation of faith and an evaluation of Jew-
ish festival, Jewish ethical values, Jewish needs—especially educa-
tion—as well as Zionism and anti-Semitism.
Formerly rabbi in London, England, Rabbi Swift now serves
the Durban congregation and the Jewish communities of Natal
(So-,Ith Africa).
A prefatory letter from Israel's Chief Rabbi Isaac Halevi Her-
zog reveals the important role Rabbi Swift played in rescuilag
Jewish children from apo,s.asy. Rabbi Herzog wrote: "No one
knows and appreciates better than I your valuable and historic
contribution to the Jewish people in the practical sphere by your
rescue of tens of thousand of children from "schmatt" following
the European catastrophe, and by your able assistance in the
erection of the Supreme Religious Center in Jerusalem."
Rabbi Swift's sermons are supplemented by the text of an
address delivered by his son, I. Lionel Swift, LL.B., delivered on a
day of mourning for martyred European Jewry.
Laymen will be well guided by Rabbi Swift's sermons and
essays and rabbis will find new inspiration in the devotion evinced
by , Durban. rabbi in every situation he faces in the subject,
coveked'in his interesting book.