Purely Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Justice Douglas' Gems: Hope Eternal for the Misunderstood

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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, February 4, 1955

Re-Elect Dr. Levine
President of JNF

News stories in recent months were full of tragic names:
Dr. Harris J. Levine was unan-
Ladejinsky, Chasanow, Oppenheimer and others. They are the
imously
re-elected president of
names of men who were maligned or misunderstood, wrongly ac-
cused and persecuted. Many of the slandered had their names the Jewish National Fund of
cleared, but no one is safe from false charges in a democratic so- America by the board of direc-
ciety. But in a democratic society the slanderer is open to scru- tors, representing all groups
tiny on a part with the slandered. That's what makes our democ- within American Zionism, at its
racy great.
annual meeting, Jan. 27 at Bilt-
Often, unfortunately, it takes too long to clear a good name.
more
Hotel, New York.
That's what causes tragedy.
He outlined a new plan for
Applicable to those, in our time, who have been falsely ac-
cused, is the story of the famous Governor of Illinois, John Peter the future of the Jewish Na-
Altgeld. It is told simply but forcefully in the soul-stirring "Alma- ticeal Fund, now under consid-
nac of Liberty' by Mr. justice William 0. Douglas of the United eration in Jerusalem, designed
States Supreme Court. Here are two pages from this book—devoted to establish the closest possible
to the Altgeld story—that show the power of the Douglas Almanac, cooperation" and coordination
a Doubleday publication:
with the government of Israel
In 1886, there was great industrial strife around Chicago for the implementation of a
over the att - mpt to introduce an eight-hour day. On May 3, large-scale policy of reclama-
a bloody encounter took place between police and laborers tion and development of Is-
in which several workers were killed. An anarchist group rael's , Wastelands and Arab-
printed a circular headed "Revenge! Workmen to Arms" and abandoned field-areas.
called a meeting at Haymarket Square the next night. The
Dr. Israel Goldstein was chos-
meeting was orderly; even Chicago's Mayor attended. But the en honorary president; Louis
police undertook to break it up. Some unknown person threw Segal, honorary secretary; Al-
a bomb, killing several policemen. Four of the convicted men bert Schiff, treasurer and Miss
were hanged on November 11, 1887. The sentences of two Julliet N. Benjamin and Nat Le-
were commuted to life; one received 15 years. In 1892, John vine, associate treasurers.
Peter Altgeld was elected Governor of Illinois, and one of
Mendel N. Fisher, rounding out
his first acts was to entertain a petition for pardon of the
20 years of service, was named
three—Samuel Fielden, Michael Schwab, and Oscar Neebe.
Altgeld found that the jury which convicted the men executive director and secretary
had been "packed," i.e., made up of men selected (with the and Isidore Epstein as assistant
help of a special bailiff) because of their prejudice; that secretary.
Dr. Levine announced the es-
there was no evidence connecting the three men with the
crime; that they had not received a fair trial. They had tablishment of a forest in Is-
made incendiary talks; they had perhaps been "anarchists." rael, on JNF land, to bear the
But there was no shred of proof connecting them - with the name of Ambassador Warren R.
bomb. Altgeld felt they were victims of the frenzy of pas- Austin, former United States
sion that had swept Chicago in those days. His pardon mes- representative to the United Na-
sage was issued June 26, 1893. It served the cause of justice, tions, in recognition of the his-
but it ruined =Altgeld politically. He knew the bitter years. He toric part he played in the
lost his health and his wealth under the pressure of his founding of the State of Israel.
The inauguration of the
enemies. The man who had the courage to give a despised
minority the protection of the Bill of Rights was hounded "Warren R. Austin .Forest,"
which will be planted by the
to his death.
*
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Jewish communities of Mr. Aus-
In 1947, Carl Sandburg and I were at a dinner in Chi- tin's native state of Vermont,
cago honoring the 100th, anniversary of Altgeld's birth. Sand- was hailed by President Dwight
burg—America's beithed poet and biographer of Lincoln— D. Eisenhower, who, in a letter
read Vachel Lindsay's poem, The Eagle That Is Forgotten, to the Jewish National Fund,
which eulogizes Altgeld. In the middle of the reading his paid tribute to Mr. Austin for
voice broke so that it seemed he would not be able to finish. "his outstanding ability and de-
votion to principles evidenced
Afterwards, I spoke to Sandburg about the incident.
in his career in the U. S. Sen-
Sandburg's explanation was this:
"When the four anarchists were hanged on November ate, which fitted him well for
11, 1887, I was a boy in Chicago, nine years old. When I heard the difficult post of United
the news, 'Well, they hanged 'em,' I felt good. I felt as if States Rrepresentative to the
Chicago had been saved from evil men. Six years later I United Nations."
read Altgeld's pardon message and realized that the hanging
of those men had been an act of great injustice—an act that
could not be undone."
There were tears in Sandburg's eyes as he added:
"Tonight when I read The Eagle That Is Forgotten, I
suddenly remembered that as a boy I had been a victim of
the frenzy of passion that swept Chicago in the '80's. It was
the awful realization that I had felt elated over an act of
•
- injustice. That's why I choked up on the radio and almost
lost my voice."
It is when people regd,in their voices that the Bill of Rights
remains powerful, fully protected. It is when a Justice Douglas
records the basic liberties in a book as powerful as his Almanac
that we feel more secure. Indeed, when we gain strength and
light frenzy, we also recover pride and dignity.
Mr. Justice Douglas emphasizes that he has "written for
the common man, hoping I could help him seem the main con-
tours and, seeing them, better understand the high vantage point
we have reached with our form of government." Indeed, there is
great satisfaction to be linked with the common man—to be that
man—as we grasp such high vantage point. We accept the Douglas Sen. Magnuson Rep. Brownson
credo of ranking "freedom to eat with freedom to speak . . . the
right to work with freedom from racial discrimination." Such a
At 9 p.m., Feb. 12, at the Davi-
credo makes our Bill of Rights imperishable.
son Jewish Center, the first in
a series of "Behind the Head-
lines" forums will be presented
The Name Israel Without the 'Bretz': A Debate
A Yiddish pamphlet by Lazarus Monfried, published by Book- under the sponsorship of the
fold Publishing Co. (11'4 E. 19th, NY3), under the title "How Jewish Community Center's
Should the Jewish State Be Called?", contains an interesting Speaker's Club.
debate on the subject. The author contends that it should be
The forum will feature an
called Eretz -Israel. The President of Israel, Itzhak Ben-Zvi, in open discussion of the topic,
a letter to the author, makes the point that Eretz Israel would "Are We Drifting Toward World
imply the entire territory which, once embraced the Jewish Com- War III?", with Dr. Max Mari:,
monwealth and might be interpreted as imposing Israel's laws assistant professor of govern-
upon those living outside the present boundaries of Israel.
ment, Wayne University, acting
Mr. Monfried counters that religious laws apply to Jews out- as moderator.
side of Israel, but that the laws promulgated by the Jewish State
The topic presented first in a
apply only to those residing in the territory included in present- filmed discussion by Sen. War-
day Israel. He insists, therefore, that either Israel or Medinat ren G. Magnuson (D., Wash.)
Israel, as the State often is referred to, are misnomers, and that and Rep. Charles B. Bronson
in accordance with history and traditions Eretz Israel is the only (R., Ind.). The journalist and
name that should be used.
lecturer, Marquis Childs, is
Thus, a debate that was considered ended continues. But the moderator for the film. The au-
name remains Israel.
dience then will discuss the
topic, with Dr. Mark acting as
The Benjamin Laikin Forest: A Well Deserved Honor
moderator.
A Benjamin and Anna Laikin Forest is to be planted on
Vienna-born Dr. Mark is es-
Jewish National Fund soil in Israel, in honor of the distinguished pecially qualified for his role as
tionist couple whose efforts in behalf of Israel are well known moderator by virtue of both his
here.
educational and personal back-
The Laikins have not limited their efforts to Israel. They ground. He spent seven years in
have been active in the ranks of the American Jewish Congress, Tientsin,_ China. Coming to
in congregational affairs and in the local Jewish schools.
America in 1947, Dr. Mark be-
Their major interests have been in the ranks of Labor Zion- came an instructor in Far East-
ism, Hadassah and the Jewish National Fund,
ern affairs at Western Reserve
It is less known, however, that they are patrons of the arts, University.
He is now a resi-
that they always encourage Jewish writers and artists, that they
dent of Oak Park.
have warm feelings for Jewish traditions.
For information, call Carl Ein-
The honor extended them by the planting of the Laikin
forest is well deserved and worthy of commendation and support. horn, TR. 5-8450.

Distinguished Leaders to Address
Dinner in Honor of Dr. Hershman

Distinguished local and na- of Cong.. Shaarey Zedek.
Dr. Elias Solomon, of New
tional leaders will address the
testimonial dinner in honor of York one of the leading Con-
iservative rabbis in this country,
will be the principal speaker.
The presentation will be made
to Dr. Hershman, in behalf • of
1 the committee, by Judge Theo-
dore Levin.
A musical program will be
given by CantorJ. H. Sonenklar,
who will be accompanied Dy
Lillian Zellman.
There will be messages from
noted Israeli leaders and from
national groups, in recognition
Of Dr. Hershman's pioneering
efforts for the Zionist movement -
and for Israel.
The dinner will symbolize the
impending construction of the
new library in Tel Aviv in Dr.
Hershman's honor and the pub-
lication this month of Dr. Hersh-
man's Hebrew book by an Israeli
publishing house.
Reservations for the dinner
i still are available from the ar-
DR. A. M. HERSHMAN
ra ngements committee which
Dr. A. M. Hershman, next Wed- is headed by Harry M. Shulman.
nesday, Feb. 9, in the social hall : See Editorial, Page 4

.

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1955, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Zionist Affairs

The shekel campaign which starts Feb. 6 in the United States
will be more intense this year than four years ago when the last
World Zionist Congress was held ... At that time, 850,000 shekolim
were sold, including 600,000 to members of the Zionist movement
and 250,000 to "just Jews" who hold pro-Zionist sympathies . . .
The shekel, which costs a dollar, is actually a vote for the election
of a delegate to the Zionist Congress . . Hence, 850,000 Jews in
the United States participated in the voting for sending American
delegates to the last Congress . . In the present campaign,
Zionist groups hope to sell 1,000,000 shekolirn ... The largest buyer
is Hadassah with its 300,000 members ... Hadassah will probably
sell this year as many shekolim as all the other Zionist groups
together because Hadassah membership is larger than that of all
other American Zionist groups put together . . . The other groups,
especially the Zionist Organization of America, will concentrate
this year on selling more shekolim to "just Jews", who feel closes
to Zionism . . ZOA is mapping shekel campaign meetings in all
larger cities ... Should the American Zionist groups really succeed
in selling a million shekolim, it would mean that the Jews in this
country would have contributed $1,000,000 toward the expenses
connected with the holding of the forthcoming World Zionist
Congress . . . At the last Congress, American Zionists were repre-
sented by 122 delegates, with about 7,000' shekolim sold for each
delegate . . . The total number of delegate8 at the last Zionist
Conoress was 460, with the Israelis outnumbering the Americans
This is because the Israel Zionists enjoy the special privilege
of the so-called "double shekel" .. . This privilege gives them the
advantage that each shekel which they sell - gives them twice the
representation of the shekolim sold in other countries . . . The
abolition of the "double shekel" has long been demanded by
American Zionist leaders.

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`Behind Headlines'
...
Series Sponsored
By Center Group

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Communal Trends

Should Zionists alone be engaged in counteracting Arab
propaganda in this country, or should this work be done jointly
with the local Jewish Community Council in each city? . . . This
question is provoking a good deal of discussion in some of the
communities . . . There are Jewish -leaders in a number of cities
who feel that counteracting Arab propaganda in the United
States could be done more effectively by joint efforts . . . They
note that in Detroit a joint committee for the Zionist Council and
the Jewish Community Council has been in existence for several
years with the presidents of both organizations serving as co-
chairmen . . This committee includes representatives of local
Zionist organizations—with the exception of Revisionists and
Hashomer Hatzair—arid representatives of the Conimunity Coun-
cil, some of whom are non-Zionists . It maintains direct contact
with the National Community Relations Advisory Committee,
American Zionist Council, American. Zionist Committee for Public
Affairs and American Christian Palestine Committee . . Its
emphaSis is on the benefits accruing to the United States from
her friendly policy toward Israel ... It watches for and counter-
acts, whenever possible, Arab propaganda, particularly in the
universities in and around Detroit . . It makes known its views
to legislators, nationally and locally; and to the Executive Branch
of the U. S. Government ... Also by friendly non-Jewish organi-
zations, press and other media of public information . . The
committee's decisions are implemented by the staff of the Detroit
Jewish Community Council, which speaks in the name of 325
Jewish groups . . . If such joint efforts are possible in Detroit,
The
why not in other communities, is the question asked . .

Among Literati

of

Moshe Davis, provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary
America, and his wife, Lottie, are engaged in preparations for a
volume which may emerge as a Dictionary of Biblical Names in
the United States . . . They have been at work for several years
and have already _collected much material.
Interest has been displayed all over the Country in a map
Biblical names in America prepared by them and beautifully pro-
duced by the Associated American Artists . . The map, entitled
"Land of Our Fathers," gives the locations in each of the 48 states
of towns and settlements carrying names derived from the Bible
... It is illustrated by Charles Harper . .
A 320-page volume on Yiddish literature marking the Bicen-
tennial of Columbia University has been published by the Lin-
guistic Circle of New York , . Under the title "The Field of
Yiddish," the book gives the English reader a many-sided picture
of Yiddish language, folklore and literature . . . It contains a
number.of studies .written by leading scholars and it is illustrated
'with maps 'and "musical' SCores.'

a

