THE JEWISH NEWS Caught in the Middle Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20• 1951 Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial ,Asso- ciation. 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. Entered as second class matter Aug. 6. 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879 PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher SIDNEY SHMARAK 4dvertising Manager . FRANK SIMONS City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the second day of Elul, 5715, the following Scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Deut. 16:18-21-:9. Prophetical portion, Is. 51:12-52:12. Rosh Hodesh Elul - Reading of the Torah . on Friday, Nunn: 28:1-15. Licht Benshen, Friday, Aug. 19, 7:08 pan. VOL. XXVII — No. 24 Page Four August 19, 1955 if They Will It There Can Be Peace The fluctuating tendencies in the frantic efforts ..to attain peace in the Middle East are adding to the . discouragements on the worldwide scene. While all men of good will are praying • for the success of the United Natioris, there • is a - justified feeling of skep- ticism lest the _UN's fate should approximate . that of the League of Nations. Only firm action by the world powers, in the direction of peace, can assure triumph for the sincere efforts ofth6Se . _ . _ Who - are striving for amity. The "Atoms for Peace' conference in Geneva adds to the spirits of optimism. The . nations who gathered in Switzerland to plan the applications of atomic power to peace needs are serving as an inspiration to those who not only preach peace but who work for it. At the same time, however, in the Middle East, diabolical forces are at work to disrupt good will. For several weeks now, under the able direction of the United Nations truce chief in Palestine, Maj. Gen. E. L. M. Burns, Israel has been straining her energies to remove the tensions that have existed in the Gaza area since t h e establishment of the Jewish state. But every report that an accord had been reached was followed by obstacles that nullified all the good arrangements that had been made through the efforts of Gen. Burns and the Israeli spokesmen. Twice in the past week there were re- ports of agreements on plans for cooperative efforts to end the tensions, but they were only momentary flashes and they proved to be over-optimistic. Egypt appears to be aim- ing only for a continuation of a state of war. In fact, Yoseph Tekoah, the director of armistice affairs in the Israel Foreign Minis- try, went so far as to warn that Egypt's policy seems to be heading toward "ominous confirmation that direct contacts between the two countries 4s possible only in war or border incidents." If this is true, then the entire Middle East has much to be concerned about. • * * Is it possible that the harsh warning made by Israel's spokesman is .a result only of impatience? Apparently much more than patience is involved here. Let us call to witness the New York Herald Tribune correspondent in Jerusalem, who revealed the following in one of his . . 'White Council' Expose In an expose of the "White Council at Work," in his •article on "Grass-Roots Rac- ism," in the Nation, Alfred Maund reported: • The reluctance of the White Citizens Coun- cil chieftains TO talk publidly about tactics was matched by tbeir .,desire to claim respec- tability. Appearing as an impeccable front for the Mississippi unit was its executive secretary, Robert_ Patterson. Ex-football star, operator of a large Delta plantation, relatively decorous in speech and modest of manner, he told how women's auxiliaries were being formed in his home state. His fellow Missis- sippian at the festival, Yale-educated Judge Tom Brady of Brookhaven, was saturnine, and enamoured of purple prose. He is- lightly regarded as a perennial officeseeker in Mis- sissippi, but this day he outdid Talmadge as a spellbinder. Still, he sprinkled his harangue with exhortations to "keep our cause on a high plane." He denounced the N. A. A. C. P. as being party to a giant plot by "Socialist preachers, Communist teachers, and leftist editors" to stir up class, racial, and religious strife; he pleaded .;'.or unity_ and tolerance. However, his paper-bound book. "Black _Mon- day," which was being peddled at the, meet- ing, held stronger views. "It is lamentable that attention should be called to the alarming increase- of Jewish names in the ranks of Communist-front organizations of this coun- try," one chapter of the rambling, super- charged text disingenuously begins. Thus; the line-up is •the same:. "rambling," vsuper=charged," bigotry that aims to tar- . and-feather all who align themselves with liberal ideas; intolerance that would brand all who favor desegregation as Communists. Is it the last breath of a rapidly-expiring Intolerance? 'One thing is certain: those who still cling to such views certainly are in a very small minority. reports, in which he described Egypt's rejec- tions of Gaza peace plans: The refusal by Egypt to accept any plan to control the Gaza border is typical of the petti- ness which •hampers efforts to normalize rela- tions between Israel and the Arab states. The task clearly will take twenty-five years. Under United Nations Armistice Commis- sion leadership, the Israelis and Jordanians have worked out an understanding which has reduced border troubles to near zero for almost a year. Part of the arrangement is a telephone line betwen the Israeli-held New City in Jeru- salem by which the commanders on each side can ring up and say that there is trouble at such and such a spot, and move quickly to stop trouble. But when Israel proposed such a phone line for the Gaza area, the Egyptians not only rejected it. They dispatched their negotiator, Col Salah Gohar, to the Old City of Jerusalem (Arab Sector) to tell the Jordanians to pull their phone line down and stop dealing inde- pendently with the Israelis. Col. Gohar, visited Jerusalem on Saturday, and the phone went out that night. Meanwhile, on the Colonel's return to Cairo, the Egyptian government announced that four Arab states bordering on Israel would meet in Damascus on Aug. 20 "to adopt a united stand toward Israel's attempts to drag the Arab coun- tries into bilateral agreements providing for - direct contact and by-passing the truce super- vision organization." In this atmosphere, the outlook for any progress toward peace is very poor. It remains to be seen, however, whether this presages a fresh outburst of border violence from either side. Two Tercentenary Publications While in some quarters severe criticism is being leveled at the national Tercentenary committee for its failure to make the celebra- tion of the 300th anniversary of the settlement of Jews in this country more representative of American Jewry, there nevertheless are a number of creative efforts which continue in the literary field. Especially impressive is the Tercentenary Issue of the Jewish Quarterly Review, published by Dropsie College, Philadelphia. This issue contains a series of three articles outlining the problems and achievements of Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism, by Dr. Joseph H. Lookstein, Dr. Ben Zion Bokser and Dr. Solomon B. Freehof. The editors of the Quarterly Review, Drs. Abraham A. Neuman and Solomon Zeitlin, are the authors of articles on "Our Historic Horizons" and "Jewish Learning in America." The latter presents an historical outline of the development of Jewish theological schools in this country. There are articles in this issue by Chief Justice Horace Stern, Prof. Robert H. Pfeiffer, Dr. Eisig Silberschlag, Dr. Joshua Bloch, Prof. Leo L. Honor, Prof. Bernard D. -Weinryb, Dr. Abraham G. Duker, Prof. Nathan Reich, Dr. Lee M. Friedman, Dr. Bertram W. Korn and Edwin Wolf 2nd. • ' Another creative work, published on the occasion of the Ter- centenary, is the 66-page brochure, "An Inventory of American * Jewish History," by Moses Rischin, of Brandeis University, with a While we refuse to fall prey to Mr. foreword by Oscar Handlin, published by Harvard University Press. Mr. Rischin has approached his complex subject in such a way Cook's pessimism, we recognize nevertheless to make clear the materials, of American Jewish history—biblio- that there is due cause to be disturbed over as graphical aids, research institutions, reports of societies, newspapers the. procrastinations in the Gaza talks, the and periodicals, memoirs, biographies, histories. He then presents threats of new "incidents," the frequent at- an outline for the study of American Jewish history — discussing tacks that are being leveled at Gen. Burns the colonial period, the national period, recent history, and un- and the apparent attempt to revive a com-; written volumes of American Jewish history. Notes and a full index make this book an easy one to use. mon Arab front for action against Israel. Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, the Egyp- tian Premier, was quoted by the Christian Science Monitor correspondent in Cairo, 0. M. Marashian, as stating: "The United Nations and the big powers are driving us to negotiate with Israel but we have rejected high-level talks except by mixed armistice officers.' Mr. Marashian reports that Egyp- tian leaders are hammering the following three "noes' of Egypt's domestic and foreign -policy:- - - 1. No return • -to the constitutional parlia- mentary system, which meant, no political par- ties and no elections, hence the continuation of the military regime in a mellowed form. - 2. No --direct high-level talks with Israel; this meant no immediate prospects of peace with Israel and the continuation of the present shaky armistice with only better safeguards of avoid- ing border clashes. 3. No regional defense alliance with the West. * * What hope is there for peace under such a dictatorial rule? What hppe, in fact, is there for the oppressed Egyptians who are being blinded :by ;false Propaganda into be- lieving that their leaders are protecting their interests? - - The success of the Herut in the last Israel elections s e r v e d to mislead many people into believing that "activists" have gained full control in the Jewish state. But the so-called "activists" nevertheless remain a minority in a country that continues to have perfect democratic elections, while its neighbors are dominated by dictators and by the rule of force. Fortunately, there are better results on the Israel-Jordan front.• A direct field tele- phone line_has been re-established between military commanders on both sides and there is a cooperative contact to halt or to prevent incidents. Why can't similar results be attained' with Egypt? The efforts for peace must continue— in spite of what the negotiators have termed to be "sticky days" in the deliberations. Meanwhile, however, the United States, and the big powers who dominate over the world scene, are challenged by the facts: if they will it, there can be peace. Lincoln Documents in Jewish Archives The American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College, Cin- cinnati, were enriched this week by the acquisition of hitherto un- published documents that throw light on the Civil War and on Abraham Lincoln. The documents were presented by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Rosewater, of Elkins Park, Pa. Dr. Jacob R. Marcus, director of the Jewish Archives, states that the collection is rich in the history of the Republican party in Civil War days. The documents tell of the career of Edward Rosewater, a grandfather of the donor, who was a telegrapher during the Civil War and-who worked next to Lincoln as dispatches came in from battlefronts. He wrote that the defeat of the Union forces at Fredericksburg, Pa., "seemed to crush Lincoln. He looked pale, wan and haggard. He did not get over it for a long time, and all that winter of 1863 he was downcast and depressed." HUC Gets 3,500 Nowakowsky Manuscripts - The 3,500 original Manuscripts of David Nowakowsky, 19th century composer of synagogue music, have been presented to the School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College—Jewish In- stitute of Religion, Dr. Nelson Glueck; president of HUC-JIR, an- nounced. The presentation- was made by David and Jack NOvak,. sons of the late composer, _ An editorial committee - from the School of Sacred Music and. other leaders in the field of Jewish music will select and superviSe publication of the manuscripts, most of which have never before been published. They will, -be published by the school on a sub,. scription basis. The manuscripts were protected from the Nazis by a daughter of the composer who brought them from Odessa to Germany, then, occupied France and, finally, to the sons in New York. Nowa :, kowsky, who was born in Russia in 1849 and died in Odessa in 1921, became choirmaster of. the Broder Synagogue in Odessa when he was 21 and held the post for half a century. His compositions became world famous and visitors from all over Europe came to the synagogue.to hear them sung by Cantor Pinchas Minkowsky. 'Here and Nowf New Israel Weekly Israel already boasts of an unusually large number of pub-. lications for a small country. It is perhaps the most literate country in the world—if judgment is to be based on the number of books published and •purchased (and therefore also read) and on the number of newspapers and magazines. The newest Israel magazine is the weekly, "Here and Now." Its editor is Dr. Shimon- Ben Eliezer, who previously has edited other magazines and is a former Jewish Agency official. Its man- aging editor is Misha Louvish, a native of Glasgow, Scotland, who has edited the Jewish Agency youth paper "Israel Youth Horizon" and has worked for the Israel 'Government Information Services and for Kol Zion Lagola. "Here and Now" carries interesting comments on world affairs, informativ'e articles on conditions in Israel, book reviews and theater and film criticisms.