Great Britain to Protest
Egypt's Shelling of. Steamer
Direct JTA Teletype Wire:
to The Jewish News
LONDON—The British steam-
er Anshun was shelled by Egyp-
tian batteries near the entrance
to the Gulf of Akaba, it was re-
ported here Tuesday by the
Times of London. The dispatch
said that the Egyptian shore
,batteries hit the vessel but
caused no casualties. The Bri-
tish government is reported
sending a note of protest to
Cairo over the incident.
Protesting this treatment of
the British vessel, the Times
editorially attacked the Egyp-
tian contention that it has bel-
ligerent rights in reference to
the entrance to the Gulf, which
leads to the Israel port of Eilat
and the Jordan port of Akaba,
because of its declared state of
war with Israel.
"According to the armistice
agreements and according to
the United Nations, Egypt and
Israel are not at war," the
Times pointed out.
`Egypt maintains that a con-
dition of hostilities exists, but is
the first to complain if Israel
takes hostile action in any - way
contrary- to the armistice agree-
ment. The upshot is. that Egypt
claims the right to take hostile
action against Israel, while
denying Israel's right to recip-
rocate," the Times stressed.
In Jerusalem, t h e Israel-
Egyptian Mixed Armistice Com-
mission condemned Egypt for
the shelling of the Israel settle-
ments of Kissufim and Nirim
in the Gaza border area last
May 30, at a meeting Monday
night. Two Israelis, one a soldier
and the other a civilian, lost
their lives in the Egyptian at-
tacks.
At the same time, the MAC
ruled that Israel was guilty of a
violation of the armistice agree-
ment in that Israel forces re-
plied to the Egyptian shellings.
For this, Israel, too, was cen-
sured.
An Israel army spokesman
in Tel Aviv announced Mon-
day night that a gang of
Egyptian infiltrators had
penetrated Israel territory to
a depth of 18 miles on Satur-
day and had attacked an Is-
rael Bedouin • encampment
near Nahal Boker.
Five of the Israel Bedouin
were severly. wounded in the
automatic weapons and hand
grenade attack,
On the 'Record
By NATHAN ZIPRIN
(Copyright, 1955.. Stvah Arts Feature Syhdicatei
or a Point of View?
Recently in Israel a psychologist was giving intelligence tests
to children in a village of Yemenite Jews near Jerusalem. Among
the objects employed in the tests were pictures with glaring inac-
curacies which the children were expected to detect. One showed
the head of a man with one eye missing. The psychologist showed
the picture to one of the youngsters, a sharp-eyed lad with
yarmelke and peoth, and asked him what was wrong with it.
Quickly he shot back "the_ peoth are missing," a reply which
stamped him as mentally deficient in the eyes of his examiner.
The finding of deficiency was met with resentment since it was
More natural for a Yemenite child to detect missing peoth than
missing eyes.
*
*
-*
IQ
They Say It's So
Are figs a cure to sterility and an aid to fecundity? No scien-
tist worth his salt would risk his reputation with an affirmative
nod to the question. But in the Israeli town of Margaliot in Upper
Galilee this is a faith which will not down, it was recently disclosed
by a correspondent of the Israeli newspaper Davar who visited the
area, a region rich in fig trees. The residents of the town, Iraqi
and Persian Jews, suddenly noted that the birth rate had perked
up crazily and that women who had until now walked under the
shadow of barrenness were now raising eyes proudly to heaven.
Before long the legend became a certainty—the secret lay in the
figs. And now, no longer is fig-giving a sign of rejection and
reprobation in Margaliot but of blessing and fulfillment..
*
Signs of the Times
Of some 3,200 students attending medical schools in New York
state over 40 percent are Jews. This represents an increase of 10
percent over the last decade. Harvard medical school has 30 Jews,
Boston U. 27 and Tufts 27. Yale medical college has 17 and the
medical schools of Philadelphia have between 10 and 20. Yeshiva
University, whose Albert Einstein Medical School opens this year,
had 22 of its students admitted this year to various medical and
dental schools, 12 to the Albert Einstein school and 15 to various
colleges and universities throughout the country. Coming as they
do from a Jewish university, these young men didn't hide behind
a cloak of anonymity but were accepted instead on their scholastic
merits. While this record is a feather in the cap of the high
academic standing of the institution, it also points up the tremend-
ous strides, that have been made in American life. It wasn't so
long ago that Jewish young men and women had to fight bitterly
against the odds to secure a. medical education. We would like to
believe that the new situation is solely the fruit of the effort
against discrimination over the years.
Bond Aid vs. Negev Elements
Water, the lifeline
of Israel's agricultur-
al growth, is being
carried to all parts of
the parched Negev
with the aid of funds
derive(' from the sale
of State of Israel De-
vel(ipment Bonds.
Amidst the cactus of
the Negev desert, Is-
rael Bond dollars are
making possible the
construction of water
reservoir tanks such
as this near new
farming villages, of
which 420 have been
established since 1949.:
The tank water is
used for home con-
sumption and comes
from deep-well water
projects, which are
being built an I main-,
tained with Israel
Attend aid.
`Shylock' Does Us Little Good
By life, for which we have so much respect,
Continued from Page 1
was defiled last night!"
must be studied in our schools, it should be
limited to the higher classes.
Even there, it needs proper analysis—so
that the students should be aware of many
factors that enter into the discussion. Now,
as a result of the new experience, it is our
feeling that the protest against the play
must also be directed at the theater, for
this very obvious reason : while many critics
will expose the play for what it is worth,
you can't reach every spectator with the
truth; therefore, it is better that an anti-
Semitic vehicle should be scrapped rather
than that it should be given before vast,
uninformed, audiences.
*
Members of the cast were quite sin-
cere in their advance comments that they did
not believe the play was anti-Semitic. Frances
Hyland, who made an excellent Portia, said
to this reviewer a day before the play that it
was the feeling of the entire cast that the
anti-Semitic aspects were toned down; that
Valk emerges a Shylock who is the play's man
of great dignity; that the Christians in the
play will appear as "a pack of unmerciful and
uncharitable knaves." An official of the Stral-
ford Shakespearean Festival said, after the
performance, that she was upset by the result:
that Valk was so great in rehearsals, that he
was nervous that night. The great actor left
us disappointed. We witnessed genius that
fell short of the expected mark.
31,
The fault with the play begins with Wil-
liam Shakespeare himself. The Bard of Avon,
admittedly, never had met a Jew. He bor-
rowed his theme from the anti-Semitic "Jew
of Malta" by Marlowe. He either did not know
or it did not matter to him that bloodshed is
abhorrent to the Jew. The only common
human vehicle for Jew and Christian which was
hitched by Shakespeare to the Shylock theme
was that of vengeance; but, "The Merchant"
falls completely short of reality by fail-
ing to explain more fully, during the bitter
second act, all that was done to this wretched
man: his money was stolen, and Shylock does
say that it meant a loss of his livelihood; his
daughter was kidnapped and converted to
Christianity; he was spat upon. But all we
hear is "I'll have my bond."
How can one explain to an unknowing aud-
ience that the final act of Shylock's beconling
a Christian was unreal? How could Shakes-
peare have known about Jewish martyrology
—the refusal of Jews to abandon faith even if
it involved life and limb, let alone money!
Shakespeare's Shylock is not a Jew at all.
The character is a villain who is portrayed
as a Jew but all of whose characteristics
contradict Jewish teachings, Jewish tradi-
tions, basic Jewish ideals. 77herefore Jewry
remains libeled in "The Merchant of Ven-
ice." There is a single great speech by Shy-
lock
lock in defense of justice: "Ilath not a Jew
eyes ..." Valk has received wide acclaim
from critics for his part as Shylock. We
concur in the view that he is a great—a very
great—actor: but he has not fulfilled our
expectations as a Shylock who rises majes-
tically as a defender of his people's rights
because he has muffed the only great speech
in the play. This has been ascribed by some
critics to the fact that he has not as yet
mastered English. That's not a good excuse
for harm to Jewry through a muffed part,.
*
*
The most humiliating portion of the Strat-
ford "Merchant" is the role of Jessica. Jewish
womanhood is reviled in this character and
the sanctity of the Jewish home is abused
most cruelly. Yet, Guthrie selected a Jewish
girl for the role—and this Jewish girl, Char-
lotte Schrager (in Toronto she appeared in a
synagogue play, she is known at Camp Ta-
makwa as one of the Jewish camp's counselors.
her mother is active in Hadassah), appears so
frivolous, so insulting to her own father (Shy-
lock), so derisive of her Jewish heritage, that
her role left us humiliated. -Surely, Dr. Guth-
rie could have toned down that . frivolity.
A very prominent non-Jewish drama crit-
ic said afte_ the opening night: "Jewish fain-
Reshevsky Halts Soviet
Chess Tourney; Refuses
To Play on Sabbath
NEW YORK, (JTA) — Samuel
Reshevsky, star of the United
States chess team playing the
Russian champions in Moscow,
has not only toppled the Soviet
ace, Mikhail Botvinik, but has
also taught the Russians a les-
son in Sabbath observance.
While the U.S. teams seems
hopelessly defeated thus far —
the total scores standing 11 to
3 in favor of the Russians —•
Reshevsky's playing against
Botvinik has been the highlight
of the Moscow matches. 'Both
of these leading players a r e
Jews.
Reshevsky had refused, last
Friday, to start a new game, ac-
cording to a report from Moscow
in the New York Times, because
he would have had to continue
the game on Saturday—and he
insisted on observing the Jewish
Sabbath even in M o s c o w. He
,played Botvinik again on Sun-
day.
The three games played be-
tween Reshevsky and Botvinik
so far, ended with draws in the
first and third games, and a vic-
tory for the American Jew in
the second. The two will play
one more, but Botvinik can do
no more than tie the series.
24 — DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, July 8„ 1955
Why was "The Merchant" chosen? Why
revive such a play? Guthrie himself said to us
that it is the "most often played . Shakes-
pearean production in England" where, he
insisted, Jews never protested against it. He
told this reviewer that only a short time ago
he received an invitation to return to Israel—
where, in 1947, he directed "Oedipus Rex" for
Habimah—and to direct "The Merchant of
Venice." He even made the comment: "If I
accept, I hope the cast will be all Jewish and
that Shylock will be played by a Goy." The
role has been played on the Yiddish stage, and
in Israel, but Shylock emerged a different per-
sonality there. After the formal introduction
of the play in Stratford on June 29, Guthrie's
comment . did not sound so convincing. What
he needed was some Jewish advice, some guid-
ance by those who know the background of
the Jew. He would not have presented the
type of a Jessica that horrified the sense of
honor of a non-Jew—and there must have
been many more like the critic we have quoted.
5'
•
Guthrie offered this argument in the fes-
tival program: "In opinion it is as wrong
and as foolish to regard .this as an anti-
Semitic play as it would be to regard Richard
III' as an attack upon the British monarchy;
or Othello as a condemnation of the colored
people." The comparison is weak in the light
of his assertion that Jews still are money-
lenders: Dr. Guthrie should have studied the
facts before making this assertion, before lead-
ing himself into believing that Jews in Ireland
and in England—as he commented to us, over
our objection—still are in the banking busi-
ness. If there are any left, they are few and
far between. Guthrie has been misled.
It is regrettable that a man whose sin-
cerity we do not question—he and his wife
both told me how thrilled they were with
the Palestine they visited, how enamored
they were with the people, etc.—should have
been so misled, and should have failed to
listen to reason when Canadian Jewish. Con-
gress leaders pleaded with him against stag-
ing "The Merchant." The Canadian Con-
gress spokesmen protested, but they said . at
the outset they would not boycott the play.
This reviewer is convinced that Jews who
may take in this play at Stratford won't have
any fun. A very eminent musician, with whom
we exchanged views after the first act on
opening night, commented: "I am not enjoy-
ing myself." Neither did we.
Critic's' Differing
STRATFORD, Ontario, (JTA)
— "The Merchant of Venice,"
presentation of which at the
Shakespeare Festival here had
given rise to concern on the part
of some Jewish organizations,
had its first performance here,
with Fredrick Valk playing the
role of Shylock.
In a review of the perform-
ance, Brooks Atkinson, drama
critic of the New York Times
said, "Ever since the Stratford
Festival announced 'The Mer-
chant of Venice' the familiar cry
of anti - Semitism has been
raised against it. Without tak-
ing time to go into the subject
of English cultiire in Shakes-
peare's day, let's admit that the
play is anti-Semitic. It might
also be observed that Mr. Valk's
acting robs Shylock of most of
his distinction. Although Mr.
Valk is a vigorous, interesting
actor, he cannot convey much
of Shylock's lonely thinking or
the shades of Shylock's feeling."
"But if we are to get touchy
about religious matters," Atkin-
son continued, "the Christians
might file a counter-suit against
Shakespeare for libel and slan-
der—a More serious indictment,
since he lived among Christians
and presumably was one. In the
'Merchant of Venice' his Chris-
tians are not only fools and
prodigals: They are also heart-
less: arrogant, - vindictive a n d
Views on ‘Shylock'
cruel, and they violate most of
the principles their Lord tried
to teach them. Trust Dr. Guth-
rie (who- directed the play) to
put the bitter facts on the line.
When the trial goes against
Shylock, the Christians taunt
and jeer him with an animal
ferocity that would be horrify-
ing if 'The Merchant of Venice'
were a sensible play. It isn't.
But Dr. Guthrie has made a
stimulating show out of it."
Walter F. Kerr, reviewing the
play for the New York Herald
Tribune, had high praise for
Mr. Valk's performance of the
role. He said, "By the time
Fredrick Valk is through with
those blackguards who populate
Venice, there's no doubt about
it—Shylock was right." He con-
tinued by saying, "When things
begin to go badly, when Shylock
has wrenched the 'Hath not a
Jew eyes?' speech out of himself
and begun to insist on the prop-
riety of his vengeance, you are
convinced that he is asking no
more than his due . . He has
made an unprofitable bargain
in perfectly good faith, and it
is high time somebody else had
a little good faith, too:' Mr.
Kerr describes Valk's playing of
this role as ". . . a character be-
side whom the prattling Portia
is a pipsqueak who ought to be
thrown out of court,"