THE JEWISH NEWS

incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 2Q, 1951

Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press AstoCiation. National Editorial
Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road., Detroit 35. Mich..
VE. 8-9364. Subscription $5 a year Foreign $6.
Entered as second dais matter Aug. 6, 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Editor and Publisher

Attention, State Departnaent
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„„

FRANK SIMONS

SIDNEY SHMARAK

City Editor

Advertising Manager

Sabbath Scriptural Selections

This Sabbath, the fifth day of Nisan, 5716, the fol/awing Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues: •.
44:23.
Pentateuclua portion, Vayikra, Leviticus, 1:1 5:26. Prophetical portion, Isaiah 43:21

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Licht Benshen, -Triday, March le, 6:21 p.m.

Page Four

VOL. XXIX. No 2

March 16, 1956

The Anti-Israel Game Must End

Overnight, as a result of its having
Within a month, on April 15, Israel • will
been booted out of Jordan, British politi-
celebrate the eighth anniversary of her
cians have changed their tunes. Instead of
independence. There are prophets of .doom
accusing Israel of acting the role of an ag-
who predict violence for that occasion.
gressor, they now say that the Arabs rep-
There are analysts of political conditions
resent the threatening element in that
in the world who believe there will be a
area. The about-face is in itself an admis-
war; that Israel has never been so danger-
sion by the British of haying played a
ously menaced; that - the arming of the
shocking game of power politics which has
Arab states by Russia, the encirclement
boomeranged, which has proved to be un-
of Israel, the overwhelming odds against
wise, which may hurt Great Britain more
the Jewish State, may spell the doom of
• than Israel.
the reborn Eretz Israel.
* 4, *
We hold . a different view. We believe
Our
own
Government
has unwisely
sincerely that the second week in April
supported British policies. Our State De-
will be en occasion for genuine celebra-
partment's spokesmen have resorted to lip
tions by Israelis, their kinsmen and their
service in assuring Israel of friendship,
Arthur H. Lewis, a distinguished author and publicity man,
friends; that it will be a time for saluting
while arming Israel's enemies with weap- was driving on the William Penn Highway, through the farms
the brave men and women who, in spite
ons for the destruction of Medinat Israel. and hills of central Pennsylvania, west of Altoona, when he
of mounting difficulties, are holding fast to
We call it unwise, because the jittery peo- reached a village with _a sign that read:
life and refuse toaratify the wishes of
"AARONSBURG, NAMED FOR
ple who fear the loss of air bases and oil
those who seek IsraeI's destruction.
AARON LEVY. FOUNDED 1786."
supplies are not aware of the values of
* *
He stopped to chat with AI Mingle, an insurance agent in
American relationships to the peoples in-
Actually, this faith stems from historic
volved; they do not realize that no other dungarees who was rocking himself on his front porch. That
experience. This. is not the first time in
country on earth can compete with what started a conversation that revealed a great American story and
the life of our people that enemies have
an interesting movement to popularize an American idea.
the United States has to offer—in friend- began
The story is told in Lewis' "The Aaronsburg Story" (pub-
ganged up in an organized effort to destroy
ship, in monetary recompense for goods re- lished by Vanguard Press, 424 Madison, NY 17). While the book
Jewry or a segment of it. Those who are
ceived. We doubt whether any Arab coati-
acquainted with the records of Torque- -- try would sacrifice Americai's friendship is a lengthy combination of news story and official report on a
mbvement, it is based on facts that have emerged as Americana.
mada, Pobiedonostzev, Chmielnicki, Hit-
for Russia's promises. But the blackmail . The entire story is fantastic. Country-wide attention has
ler and all the Hamans of all the ages;
tactics of Arab potentates, who keep their been attracted to the celebration of the anniversary of the
those who are aware of the continuing
peoples in serfdom, has worked wonders presentation of communion pewter to Aaronsburg's Salem
anti-Semitic trends in several movements
in pressuring our State Department into Lutheran Church. It developed into one of the greatest brother-
that thrive even in this great land, even in
an anti-Israel position. Some American pol- hood even, of all times, with people of all faiths and races
this enlightened age—those who know
iticians are writing unpleasant • chapters participating. -
their history are surely prepared for the
There are only about 320 people in Aaronsburg, but 50,000
into our history. We pray that the evils ac-
kind of attack that is in evidence today
came
to the celebration from nearby towns. Supreme Court
companying their yielding to unsavory
against Israel.
Justice Felix Frankfurter, Dr. Ralph Bunche, Rabbi Philip Bern-
pressures
intended
to
destroy
a
small
peo-
For, it is not Israel the State alone that
stein, Dr. Daniel Poling and others joined in the call for the
.ple should be erased from our records, celebration.
these people seek to destroy. It is Israel
All because Aaron Levy set a precedent for good will. Now
the People they are after. This becomes - even if they cannot be erased from our
memories.
the cornmunity named in his honor is a landmark for justice
undeniably evident when we hear the hate
There is a basic principle, an incontro- and fair play. Its main road is called Rachel's Way, in honor of
appeals that are monitored over Arabic
vertible truth, that is being overlooked in Levy's wife.
language radio stations and when we read
the discussions of the Middle Eastern situ-
"The Aaronsburg Story" reads like a romance. Mr. Lewis
the threats to all Israel in the Arabic press.
ation. It is the reality of Israel's existence. traced the Levy. family background to the families of A. S. W.
This is what we hear from America's anti-
In an article in • the Twentieth Century Rosenbach, the famous bibliophile, and Edwin Wolf II, author
Semites. This is the message that is im-
Magazine;
Mary Stocks, while expressing and bibliophile and president of the .Jewish Publication Society.
plied in the anti-Israel movement in this
Prof. Albert Einstein, who became interested in the move-
a
sense
of
disturbance
over the existence
country. Unfortunately, such an attack on
ment of popularizing the Aaronsburg story, suggested it as "a
of.
an
Arab
refugee
problem,
while
she
all Israel has received the tacit endorse-
place for all men of good intent." That's how it emerges
stated that she does not find it difficult to meeting
ment of many statesmen in many lands.
in the book. It is a symbol. of Americanism.
understand
the
hatred
Arabs
feel
towards
In such attacks are imbedded the immoral-
the Jews, nevertheless declared:
ity of present-day international politics.
"What is less understandable and whol-
* *-
ly regnattable is the attitude of those En9;-
It is the misfortune of the embattled
Two Jewish scholars are among the 20 whose essays are in-
lish and American friends of Jordan who
Israelis—the isolated group of true demo-
are giving devoted service to the cause of corporated in—"Reinhold Niebuhr: His Religious, Social, and
crats who are surrounded by 45,000,000
Arab social welfare, but withholding one Political Thought."
This volume, edited by Profs. Charles W. Kegley and Robert
sufferers from a medievel feudal system—
thing necessary to Arab salvation, namely. W. Bretall,
evaluates the thinking of this. country's most dis-
that Secretary of State Dulles is the par-
a sympathetic intellectual leadership in tinguished theologian. Published by Macmillan (60 5th, NY 11),
tisan in the present crisis, while express-
facing the horrid truth that Israel has it features a very interesting and. informative "Intellectual Auto-
ing lip service to impartiality. "Nasser
come to stay, that there can be no return biography of Reinhold Niebuhr."
Tells All" was the subject of an editorial
to the abandoned acres, and that there is
Prof. I. Heschel and Rabbi Alexander J. Burnstein contribute
in the New York Post in which an Arab
a cause for the existence of a Jewish na- essays, "A Hebrew Evaluation of Reinhold. Niebuhr" and "Nie-
endorsement of the State Department's
buhr, Scripture, and Normative Judaism," respectively. _.
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tional home!'
policies is exposed in all its sinister colors.
* * *
Dr. Heschel turns not only to Dr. Niebuhr's books but also to
We wonder whether State Department of-
This is the truth that is being ignored, his deeds. "Niebuhr," he writes, "has maintained a concern for
ficials blushed when they read this por-
either deliberately or blindly, by men who 4 the immediate problems of justice and equity in human rela-
tion of the Post editorial:
call themselves statesmen; by politicians lions. His spirituality combines heaven and earth, as it were.
Secretary Tonnes • has often affirmed the
who pose as diplomats. Else, they would It does not separate soul from body, or mind from unity of man's
and spiritual life. His way is an example of one who
"impartiality of the Eisenhower administra-
have to recognize the injustice inherent in physiCal
does justly, loves mercy, and walks -humbly with his God, an
tion in the deepening Arab-Israel 'conflict.
an attempt to call a small people of example of the unity of worship and living."
But the form of America's so-called neutral-
1,700,000,- occupying 8,000 square miles of
Rabbiurastein is critical of a concept of Prof. Niebuhr.
ity is apparently satisfactory to Egyptian
land, encircled by 45,000,000 people living To quote him: "The fallacy of Niebuhr's root conception of man •
Prime Minister. Nasser. In an interview with
in an area of 3,000,000 square miles, as be- is not, in this writer's opinion, that it i$ 'pessimistic - (there is
a Herald Tribune correspondent, Nasser has
ing the aggressor.
also an occasional note of pessimism to •be found in the Bible
"clearly and frankly expressed his hope that
How can we possibly view spokesmen
and in rabbinic literature), but rather than in underscoring
President Eisenhower will be reelected.
• •
for governments, who encourage suspicion man's frightening iniquity and spisitual impotence, Niebuhr
Nasser's pronouncement is as revealing
of a small people fighting for its life and overlooks man's extraordinary capacity for good and glosses
as it is indiscreet. If Israel's Ben-Gurion
were to proclaim his support fOr a U.S.
asking only for the right to protect itself, Over the element of growth, development, and progress which
Presidential candidate, there would be an
as being anything other than endorsers of is a datum of human history." He adds, however, his admiration
of the tremendous contribution Dr. Niebuhr has made "to our
instant outcry from the American Friends
genocide?
of the place and power of evil in man and society,
of the Middle East and all the other front-
This is our accusation of those who are understanding
a truth which the ancient Jewish teachers grasped, bUt :which
organizations. of the Arab propaganda ma-
placing obstacles in the path of Israel's the contemporary Jew has frequently forgotten." , - .4- -
chine. Charges Of Israeli "meddling" in U.S.
fight for existence. We challenge them to
Prof. Niebuhr's replies to the criticismsnd
domestic politics would flood our press.
disprove it. We demand of them that they by the-Christian and Jewish scholatr; rilakes reference to the
Nasser's readiness to issue so tactless a
end their unfortunate anti-Israel game be-. Jewish cornments. , tig,...mchilons Rabbi Burnstein's View that
declaration dramatizes the extent to which
fore it is too late. The peace ..of the world his—Dr. Niebuhr's i-interpretation
of human nature is at Vari-
—
the Arab chieftains have been emboldened
is involved, and those who will make it ance with "normative Judaism," , and •dismisses the criticism
by Washington's rebuffs to Israel.
difficult for Israel to defend herself, there- because "Dr. Heschel has in my opinion yefuted : his position
It is more than a pity. it is a tragedy
by bringing the Middle East nearer to war, and has piled up a great deal of evidence which has been very
that the statesmen of the world are'
are bringing the .entire :world:nearer to instructive to me on the similarities between Christianity and
blundering so shamefully in their ap-.
Jiiclaiim on this issue, even in the post-Biblical period."
war.
to the Middle East problem: .

`The Aaronsburg Story

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Scholars' Tributes to Niebuhr

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