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THE JEWISH NEWS
New Found Buddies
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle co-mmencing 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 ‘,Vest Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich., yE.
8-9364. Subscription S4 a year, Foreign S5.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6. 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
FRANK SIMONS
SIDNEY SHMARAK
City Editor
Advertising Manager
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the thirteenth day of Heshvan, 5716, the following selections will be read
in our synagogues:
Pentateuchat portion, Gen. 12:1-17:27. Prophetical portion, Is. 40:27-41:16.
Licht Benshen, Friday, Oct. 28, 5:30 p.m.
VOL. XXVIII—No. 8
Oct. 28, 1955
Page Four
Deterioration in Arab-Jewish Relations
•
There is such frightful deterioration in
Arab-Jewish relations that the concern
evidenced in diplomatic ranks is becoming
more justified hourly.
War threats are being repeated daily
in the Middle east, and they often sound
less idle than the interpretations of similar
military echoes of the past.
But war threats are never idle and must
always be viewed as dangerous, and the
tragedy of the present situation is that it is
an inheritance from accumulated hatreds,
charges and counter-charges in which not
only Israelis and Arabs, but also the Western
powers have become involved.
It is our conviction that the present
menacing conditions could have been avoided
if the world's great powers h a d acted
promptly to compel direct peace talks
between Israel and the Arab states. Such
negotiations for a permanent peace should
have been held — with Arabs and Jews
conferring with each other across a con-
ference table — before the refugee problem
became too aggravated, before the number
of Arab refugees was permitted to increase,
before jealousies -grew into hatreds.
Now, a bit late in the game, the world
faces the serious issue of a possible war in
the Middle East that could easily develop
into another world conflagration. The arms
race did not begin with the sale of ammuni-
tion to Egypt by the Communists. It was
in progress for several years, and the very
nations that are now complaining against
the intrusion • of Communists into Middle
Eastern affairs - were themselves guilty of
sending arms to the Arabs.
Furthermore, there is nothing secret
about the concessions that are being made
by our own Government and by Great
Britain to the Arabs in consideration of the
oil sales made to both nations. Thus, the
Arabs have gained in many ways: by acquir-
ing arms and by getting a high price for
their oil.
Now, the new challenges from the war-
threatened Middle East demand action that
will tend to prevent a war and that will
lead to permanent peace in that area, With
an assurance that would thus inevitably
evolve a greater -certainty of peace for the
world at large. How are such assurances to
be obtained?
known. They have refused to give arms to
Israel, and the young state's friends — and
all who are interested in peace in that area
— are obligated to see to it that war threats
should be abandoned. This is possible only if
the arms race can be stopped.
'
In the midst of these trying and depres-
sing conditions for Israel, Secretary of State
John Foster Dulles has made it known, at a
press conference, that he is pursuing a "wait
and see" attitude and that there are no im-
mediate plans to provide Israel with arms
to maintain a balance of power. This spells
trouble for Israel because of the time ele-
ment involved. If there is to be a "wait and
see" policy while Egypt grows stronger,
Israel will become the weaker and the more
vulnerable to attack.
The interview Paul Sann, executive
editor of the New York Post, had with
Egypt's Premier Gamal Abdul Nasser pro-
vided proof of the evil intentions of Israel's
chief enemy. It has always been our conten-
tion that General Nasser's policies are
motivated by a desire to deflect attention
in his own country from inner strife and
discontent. When Mr. Sann asked the Egyp-
tian dictator what had happened to the
program of domestic reforms he had out-
lined in 1952, Nasser replied: "I can't defend
my country with hospitals and schools."
Israel has felt and acted outherwise: that
her people can prosper only if they are
healthy and educated — and that has been
Israel's disadvantage: that she has had to
care for the needs of her citizens and of the
new settlers in the land, and must continue
to do so, while her enemies are using all
their resources for military purposes. It is
against such a disadvantage that Israel's
friends must labor, if the young state is to
survive the crises created by antagonistic
neighbors.
'Evolution of Jewish Folkways'
Caster's 'The Holy. and Profane
'
Dr. Theodor Herzl Gaster, one of our most distinguished
authorities on religions and folkways, former chief of the Hebrew
section of the Library of Congress and now professor of com-
parative religion at Dropsie College and visiting professor at
Columbia University, makes this approach to the "evolution of
Jewish folkways" in his newest
book, "The Holy and the Profane,"
published by William Sloane Asso-.
ciates (425 4th, N. Y. 16).
Jews have not lived in a single
compact community of their own
but in many scattered communities,
and their folkways "are a reflex of
this situation." "By and large," he
claims, throughout his book, "they
are simply general folkways which
the Jews happen to have picked up
*
*
and which they have ingeniously
In an analysis of the Egyptian - Com- adapted to the spirit of their own
munist arms pact, and the blow it dealt to traditional teachings."
the West, Ansel E. Talbert, military and
His additional contention is that
aviation editor of the New York Herald "it is both unsafe and unsound, in
Tribune, recently reached this conclusion: speaking of popular usages, to say
Dr. T. H. Gaster
roundly that 'the Jews' in toto do
"If the new arms pacts are imple-
mented, Egypt may find that it has sold or believe this or that, and it must be clearly understood that
the expression, 'Jewish folkways' is but an over-all, comprehensive
its birthright for a mess of Soviet pottage
term covering what is in fact a manifold, heterogeneous diversity.
that eventually will bring slavery rather
*
*
*
Indeed, if there is one thing that the study of these folkways
than strength to his struggling nation."
The charges made last week, in Israel's
An arms race, and a war that must be brings home especially, it is that Jewish life is, and always has
Knesset, by the retiring Premier Moshe prevented at all costs, harms all concerned. been, -a sea fed by many rivers." All the Jewish dialects, he adds,
Sharett, that Soviet Russia, by supplying They take funds needed for health and ed- represent "a fusion between the language of a particular environ-
arms to the Arabs, would be held directly ucation and utilize them for munitions. They ment and a commonly inherited Hebrew idiom."
responsible for any conflagration that might
break out between Arabs and Jews, are in-
dications of the worldwide involvements
in war threats. While such accusations have
already been leveled by top ranking states-
men, in their efforts to stop Communist arms
sales to the Arabs, the declarations by Prem-
ier Sharett are of much more vital concern
because he spoke for the nation directly in-
volved in the new war dangers.
The debate in the Israel Knesset de-
serves special consideration because it was
marked by moderation, in spite of the
demands for "a preventive war" against the
Arabs made by the handful of extreme
activists. In his restraint, Premier Sharett
nevertheless found it necessary to appeal
not only for solidarity among Israelites but
for support of a program of providing arms
for Israel with the aid of Jews everywhere.
This came as a result of fund-raising cam-
paigns for arms by the Egyptians — a cam-
paign into which United States Senators
were duped in the belief that they were
supporting a charity drive.
Premier Sharett told the Knesset that
recent developments had given a military
advantage "to the strongest of our enemies"
and he admitted that his state now is fac-
ing "a danger unknown since the War of
Liberation." He spoke of the "black per-
spectives" for Israel resulting from the
Communist bloc's support of the Arabs
through arms provisions, and he asked
that the Western Powers should "strength-
en our defenses against attack by our
enemies."
The Western Powers' attitudes are well
cost lives. They create tensions that are
totally unnecessary.
But it has become impossible to bring
these truths directly to the sufferers in-
volved. Therefore, it is urgent that the
world's powers should exert their influence
to establish peace, to end the arms race, to
eliminate frictions that have made war a
major threat.
There must be a return to peace talks
and to enforcement of amity, for which
Israel has been pleading since her inde-
pendence. The basic approaches to peace are
recognized; but instead of bringing them to
reality the statesmen of the world appear
to be at a loss. This is tragic, for, in the
meantime, Israel remains on the defensive
and all her kinsmen must direct their ener-
gies toward her security. Whatever efforts
can be made to assure peace, and Israel's
safety, must be utilized; else, the greatest
gain of the last war, the liberation of our
oppressed people, may be lost again.
A Munificent Gift
The laying of the cornerstone for the
new Infirmary Wing for the care of the
chronically ill at the Jewish Home for Aged,
this Sunday, will be a tribute not only to
the memory of David M. and Freda G. Le-
Vine, but also to their children, whose gen-
erosity makes this memorial possible.
The magnificent LeVine gift will fill
a great need in our community, and the In-
firmary Wing will serve as a worthy monu-
ment to the vision as well as the generosity
of the LeVine Family.
Is it possible that these ideas have led him to—or stem from
—his frequent associations with the anti-Zionist Council for Juda-
ism? His father, the late Haham Moses Gaster, of London, was
an associate of Theodor Herzl whose name he gave to his son.
There were frictions with the Zionists which may have soured
the younger Gaster on Zionism.
But—this is merely an aside. His "The Holy and the Profane"
is a perfectly charming and wonderful book. It is most informative,
takes the reader through all stages of Jewish life—from birth to
death—through many traditions. The titles to book divisions explain
the coverage: Blessed Event (births), Childhood, Betrothal, Mar-
riage, Death, The Dietary Laws, The Shield of David.
This book is filled with so many interesting facts about folk-
ways that it merits more than one review and frequent reference
no doubt will be made to its contents.
The naming of children, the screening of babies from den -ionic
assault by giving them nicknames, the planting of trees at the
birth of children, the rite of circumcision and other practices and
institutions.in Jewish life are treated in most scholarly fashion.
Even circumcision, Dr. Gaster points out, was not strictly a
Hebrew invention. To quote him: . "Herodotus, the 'father of
history,' tells us explicitly that circumcision was the common
custom among the ancient Egyptians, and his words were borne
out not only by a graphic account of the rite in an inscription
of the 23rd century B.C.E., but also by a portrayal of the
operation on a wall-painting of Thebes and by the fact that
the Egyptian hieroglyphic sign for 'phallus' depicts it circumcized.''
Opposition to circumcision by the early Jewish Reformers is
criticized and Leopold Zunz's protest against their stand is quoted
by Dr. Gaster.
One of the most enlightening portions of the book is the
section dealing with the Bar Mitzvah ceremony. and the ideal
inherent in Bar Mitzvah. The term "confirmation" is criticized
and Dr. Gaster urges its abandonment.
Equally valuable is his interpretation of the rules of Kashrut.
Scores of other points made in this good book deserve study,
and the reader who familiarizes himself with the contents of "The
Holy and the Profane" will be much the wiser.