Our Synagogues'
Holiday Planning
See Page 19
*
HE JEWISH
A Weekly Review
Opening of Our
Community Schools
See Page 28
VOLUME 28—No. 1
Moral Right to
Self-Defense:
*
Israel Fights
for Her Freedoms
The American Way
of Jewish Events
Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper—Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle
27
1 7 100 W. 7 MILE RD., Detroit 35—VErmont 8-9364—September 9, 1955
Commentary, Page 2
$4.00 Per Year, Single Copy 15c
'Profound elief' Is Felt Over
Easing of Middle East Tensions;
Egypt, Israel Censured by MAC
Direct JTA Teletype Wires to The Jewish News
U. of M. Hillel Crisis Averted
Leonard Simons Spearheads
Effort Leading to Mortgage
Burning Dinner on Sept. 14
The security of the Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation Build-
ing at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is being
assured, thanks to the speedy action taken by a group of
public spirited Jews who stepped in to rescue the building
from a financial crisis.
Leonard N. Simons heads the group of interested people
who undertook to avert a crisis when it became known a
few days ago that a $130,000 mortgage on the - building was
in default.
Built at a cost of $430,000, the
Michigan committee for the U.
of M. Hillel Foundation found
it difficult to raise the $130,000
due on the mortgage. Ben Bras-
ley of Pittsburgh, who originally
gave $55,000 toward the building
fund, declared himself ready to
donate an additional $15,000—
rovided the mortgage was
wiped out before Rosh Ha-
shanah. Isidore Sobeloff, di-
rector of the Jewish Welfare
Federation, was informed about
the emergency situation and he,
in
turn, called on Mr. Simmons
Leonard N. Simons
and urged him to interest his
•
friends in the issue and to make a serious effort to solve it.
Neither an active' Ben Brith nor a U. of M. man—as
• Mr. Simons explained—he nevertheless became the rescu-
ing angel of Michigan's Hillel Foundation. Within one
week, his dynamic try at the issue went so far that there
will be a mortgage burning dinner at the Standard Club,
in the Sheraton Cadillac Hotel, next Wednesday evening.
Mr. Simons',.,already has secured Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld,
national director of the Bnai Brith Hillel Foundation, as
a guest speaker for the dinner. He hopes to have U. of M.'s
President Clarence Hatcher as an-
other speaker, and he seems confident_
that by that time, or at that time,
enough money will be raised actually
to wipe out the mortgage and indeed
to 'burn it" at the dinner.
Back of this effort is the interest-
ing story of Mr. Simons' dynamic try
at an issue that for a time appeared
hopeless. The people who were re-
sponsible for the construction of the i
building seemed unable to cope with
the situation. But Mr. Simons, having
undertaken the job, was adamant. He
Dr. Lelyveld
secured more money from Bnai Brith
leaders, he re-enlisted the efforts of Irwin Cohn, Abe Kasle,
Sidney Karbel, Osias Zwerdling of Ann Arbor and many
others. He gave a large personal gift, and the others added
to their gifts. He succeeded in reducing the $130,000 sum
to $33,800 in a week's time, and last Friday afternoon he
called the interested people together to plan additional
strategy.
The meeting on Friday ended with a shortage of only
$24,900—and this is the sum that will have to be raised by
next Wednesday—or on Wednesday, to make the dinner a
mortgage-burning ceremony.
Now that the story is told and the dinner arranged, Mr.
Simons hopes that Bnai Brith members,_ U. of M. graduates
and parents of "M" students, as well as all who are inter-
ested in assuring the safe existence of the Michigan Hillel,
will come forth with gifts to provide the sum necessary
to herald the news that the crisis has been averted.
The men who helped solve the crisis, under the chairmanship
of Leonard Simons, included his partner Lawrence J. Michelson,
Irwin Cohn, Max Osnos, Abe Kasle, Emil Stern, Jason Honigman,
Sidney Karbel, Louis Schostak, Harold Shapiro, Harold Goldberg
of Pontiac, Louis Glick of Jackson, Emmanuel Harris, Maxwell
ospey, Harold Kaplan, Max Fisher, Judge William Friedman,.
avid Miro, Harry Yudkoff, Dr. William Haber and Osias Zwerd-
ng of Ann Arbor.,
LONDON—British Foreign Office officials Tuesday expressed their 'profound relief's
that Israel's accidental border crossing in the Gaza area, in violation of the new cease
fire agreement had not led to untoward results in disturbing the truce. Official cricles
indicated here that there had been far more concern over the Israel border situation than
had been revealed in official British expressions during the past. week.
The savage outburst of violence on the Israel-Egyptian frontier during the last two
weeks served as a strong reminder here that the border guarantees contained in the tri-
partite declaration, and those proposed by S ecretary of State Dulles in his recent Middle
East policy speech, were not sufficient to restrain Arab marauders or Israel retaliators.
A significant feature of the past fortnight has been the almost unanimous acceptance
by the British press of the fact that Israel had no alternative but to retaliate against the
Egyptian "commando" attacks. Egypt has been largely regarded by the press and by
weekly journals of opinion as the villain in this particular piece, and the bulk of cri-
ticism for disorders of the past two weeks was laid at Egypt's door.
The Egyptian press is still boasting about Egyptian "commando" raids on Israel ter-
ritory "evidently with the encouragement of the government," the Times of London re-
ported from Cairo Tuesday. The correspondent added that the press is "representing Is-
rael as having been forced to sue for peace."
MAC Rules Both Egypt and Israel Guilty of Attacks
JERUSALEM—Both Egypt and Israel were found guilty Tuesday in the clash on
Aug. 22, near Mefalsim, on the Israel-Egyptian frontier, which touched off a series of
battles which took more than a hundred lives in the past two weeks and almost termin-
ated the Israel-Egyptian armistice.
Egypt was condemned for having precipitated the incident by attacking an Israel
patrol and also for having shelled the settlement of Nahal Oz. Israel was condemned
for having captured the Egyptian military p ost which had opened fire on Israel.
- The double censure was voted by the Israel-Egypt Mixed Armistice Commission in
a 14-hour "emergency" session which began Monday and concluded Tuesday. The com-
mission first heard the Egyptian complaint over the incident and then the Israel counter,
complaint. Major Francois Giacommagi, chairman of the commission and member of
the United Nations Truce Observance Organization, first voted with Egypt to censure
Israel over the incident and then voted with Israel_ to censure Egypt. Maj. E. L. M.
Burns, head of the truce organization, did not attend the session.
The incident arose when an Egyptian military post opened automatic and shell fire
on a routine Israel patrol moving along the d' rnarcation line inside Israel territory. The
Israel patrol was caught on a flat terrain with no cover from Egyptian fire. In order to
extricate the patrol, Israel authorities dispatched reinforcements in half tracks. They
captured the Egyptian post, disarmed its garrison and held the point for two hours before
withdrawing. An. Egyptian officer and three soldiers were killed in the encounter and
nine were wounded.,
The Egyptians then directed heavy gunfire on the settlement of Nahal Oz. Two Israel
soldiers were wounded by shellfire.
The Egyptian complaint, which receive d priority in the commission's discussions,
(Continued on Page 2)
In Search. for Truth Regarding the Hebrew Scrolls
Scholars Deny Antiquity of Documents
Interest is deepening in the viewpoint of
Dr. Solomon Zeitlin, of DroPSie College, editor
of Jewish Quarterly Review, who maintains
that acceptance of the recently-found Dead
Sea Scrolls as belonging to the pre-Christian
era is a "falsification of history."
Support of Prof. Zeitlin's view, as pre-
sented in The Jewish News on July 22, was
expressed by Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen, of
Philadelphia, in a communication published in
the Sept. -.2 issue of The Jewish .News. Dr. Zeit-
lin's position also is upheld by a number of
people in Israel who are skeptical about the
authenticity of the Seriphs, and by Dr. G. R.
Driver, Fellow of Magdalen - College and Pro-
fessor of Semitic Philology at Oxford Univer-
sity, England. Dr. Driver's analysis is incor-
porated in a 50-page brochure, "The Hebrew
Scrolls, From the Neighborhood of Jericho and
the Dead Sea," published by Oxford University
Press, London.
Dr. Zeitlin will pursue his scathing de-
nunciation of the views of those who credit
the Scrolls with belonging to the first cen-
tury before the present era in the second
portion of his analysis, in the October issue
of Jewish Quarterly Review. His forthcoming
65-page article, entitled "The Propaganda of
the Hebrew Scrolls and the Falsification -of
History," charges the Scrolls with being
"worthless for Jewish history" and renews
his claim that they were "written by sec-
tarians in the medieval period. He states
that the $250,000 price paid for them by the
Hebrew University is "exorbitant" and he
adds:
"It was a great waste of money, but this is
their affair. But the fact that they plan to
build 'Heikhal HaSefer', 'Shrine of the Book,'
is disturbing. Have these 'idols' (The Hebrew
Scrolls) become to be a veritable religion to
them? According to the Israeli press one
prominent biblical scholar was not included in
the committee of the 'Heikhal HaSefer-'—be
cause he in part -rejected the antiquity of the
scrolls: Is any one who questions their an-
tiquity to be considered a heretic and guilty
of lese majeste? This is indeed disturbing."
Pointing out that the original price asked''
for the Scrolls was a million dollars, and quot-
ing Prof. W. F. Albright, of John Hopkins
University, who maintained that the $250,000
price paid for them was a "bargain," Dr. Zeit-
lin states in the JQR October article: "If the
scrolls really belong to the time of the Second
Commonwealth, they are worth millions, par-
ticularly since it has been maintained that this
Isaiah Scroll was the very one from which.
Jesus read when he was given the book of
•Isaiah to read in the synagogue at Nazareth.
A quarter-million is indeed a low price even
for the one scroll Of Isaiah, since it was used
by Jesus. Dr. Albright gives the reason for
such a low price, 'You perhaps ought to thank
Dr. Zeitlin's incredible propaganda against their
antiquity, which has long since been proved
to the hilt by further excavations.' I never
indulge in propaganda. I based my conclusions
against the antiquity of the scrolls on scien-
tific research. In spite of the proPaganda it
which Dr. Albright and others engaged in the
daily press and radio, to uphold the antiquity
of the scrolls, no responsible institution here
or in other countries was interested in buying
them. Many institutions had been interested in
them when they first were brought to America,
but later they were reluctant to buy them. The
(Continued on Page 28)