Purely Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

The Gnawing Problem of Public Relations

Israel's difficulties. the involvements of governments and
peoples in the Middle East's crisis, the attacks leveled by pro-,
Arab propagandists not at Israel alone but also at all American
Jews, continues to pose a serious public relations problem.
In a sense, we suffer from the same handicaps that face the
democracies. In a democracy, all viewpoints must be heard. That
gives the unscrupulous a chance to hurl slanders and lies at in-
nocent people who will not stoop to the tactics of the bigots..
The deterioration of Middle East conditions is accompanied
by the emergence of a revealing fact: that Jewry's public rela-
tions programs have weakened while those of the Arabs have
strengthened. Israel's friends have taken too much for granted.
The result is that Jews were caught unprepare d. Arabs
are in position to hurl all sorts of accusations at Israel vis-a-vis
the refugees, boundaries, the Palestine Partition decisions, etc.
But many of our people are uninformed about the actual facts,
and too few are able to refute the lies that fill the columns of
many newspapers.
The question of proper public relations became a source of
concern after the Ed Murrow "See It Now" broadcast. Many
people have asked themselves: did the Israelis present their just
case properly?
Attacks on Israel by the American Friends of the .Middle
East have similarly created numerous problems for Israel and
her friends. The appearance of a Jewish leader on a radio pro-
gram on a Friday night, in a debate with the AFME spokesman,
Garland Evans Hopkins, shocked and humiliated the Jewish com-
munity. It is part of good public relations not only to know
who to debate with, but also when; and certainly not on the
Sabbath Eve.
Dorothy Schiff, publisher of the New York Post, made some
comments in her Sunday column in her paper that are worthy
reading. She stated:
On Sunday we saw two telecasts dealing with the trouble
in the Middle . East. And on Tuesday we watched Ed Murrow's
90-minute "See It Now" program dealing with the same sub-
ject.
On "American Forum" the ambassadors to the U. S. from
Syria and Israel answered loaded questions by students from
each other's countries.
The Syrian spewed hate and venom from behind a parti-
tion he had insisted upon between himself and the Israeli who
spoke peacefully with reasonableness. The audience could only
have reacted with disgust for the Syrian and admiration for
the Israeli.'
In reverse, later that afternoon, on a local program called
"Between the Lines," a discussion took place between the
Egyptian press officer to the UN, Abdul Mawgoud Hassan,
and Shad Polier, chairman of the executive committee of the
American Jewish Congress. The Egyptian (whose views I did
not share) remained courteous and good-tempered under tre-
mendous provocation from Mr. Polier who was impatient,
rude and so unruly that the moderator had to call him to order
several times. It seemed to us that Polier did a disservice to
Israel by his erratic deportment while Mr. Hassan must have
made new friends for Egypt because of his amiability and
politeness.
Murrow's program, eonsisting of interviews with leaders
and others in Egypt and Israel, dramatized the tragedy coming
to a climax in that area.
Israel's Ben-Gurion seemed tired and old but still ideal-
istic and struggling to save the life of the country he had
helped to build with his own bare hands.
Col. Nasser, young, handsome and ambitious, seemed_ aware
of the lesser political advantages but not the major disadvan-
tages of his intransigent position. There must be a way, I felt,
to persuade a man of Nasser's intelligence and education that
his aims for his people can only be developed in a peacefUl
atmosphere in the Middle East.
The birth of a democracy in that area was, in fact, a men-
ace to a feudal Arab Overlord. But for a leader who sincerely
desires to build up his nation, Israel, far from being a threat,
can be a most valuable ally.
It is important that we should be able to discuss frankly
all issues, and certainly unwise manifestations in our own ranks.
If we are to develop a good public relations program, we must
know the strength at our command, and we must be able to
select the ablest people to speak for us.
We are concerned not only with timing, with acquisition of
knowledge, with proper approaches, but also with a sense of
unity in our ranks, without which we and Israel will be harmed.
We have a number of functioning movements that are acting
in defense of Israel. Do we need more of them? We have Zionist
groups, an American Zionist Council, organizations friendly to
Israel—like American Jewish Committee, Bnai Brith and Amer-
ican Jewish Congress. Do we need new movements, like the Mon-
tor-created Friends of Israel? We have the American Christian
Palestine Committee. Now we note, in a statement reprinted in
the Congressional Record, that Dr. A. Ben Elias and Pierre Van
Paassen are reviving the Pro-Palestine Federation of America,
which has not functioned in more than 25 years. Is this the way
to attain unity?
Public relations must not be confused with propaganda,
although it often is related to it. It is an art to be kept on a high
level. In the case of Israel and American Jewry, it should be a
form of education, of the factual evaluation of existing condi-
tions. If the truth can be made known, half the problem may
be solved. But before presenting the truth to the public, Jews
themselves must be fully aware of existing conditions and they
must know their history and the events that transpired in the
years preceding Israel's rebirth. To make such an •educational
program possible, proper public relations institutes should be
established in our communities, and our young people especially
should be educated to know the facts. A delay in attaining such
a goal may prove too costly.

490 Delegates to Attend World
Drama Critic
To Close Beth El Zionist Congress; 122 From U.S.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Marx of Duesseldorf, Dr. Schab-
Women's Series
World Zionist Congress will saj Rubin of Munich and Stefan

A talk by columnist and
drama critic Norman Nadel on
April 9 will conclude the lecture
series sponsored this season by
the Sisterhood of Temple Beth
El.

Nadel, whose column "On the
Aisle" appears in the Columbus
(Ohio) Citizen, is considered
one of the leading critics in the
country, outside New York.
He will
speak at a des-
sert luncheon
meeting at 1:30
p.m., in the
temple's Brown
•;Memorial
''Chapel. His
topic, the same
as h i s column
title, includes a
resume o
Nadel
Broadway's top
hit plays and musicals.
Editor of the daily entertain-
ment page and the Sunday
drama section of the Citizen,
Nadel also teaches journalism
classes at Ohio State Univer-
sity, is a guest writer for Va-
riety, The New York Times and
The Saturday Review and gives
about 80 lectures a year. • \

He is the founder of the Co-
lumbus Symphony Orchestra,
and himself plays all the brass
instruments, piano, violin and
viola.

One of his greatest contribu-
tions to the theater was his
founding of long-distance "show
trains." Twice a year he con-
ducts 200 Central Ohioans on
a week's theater-going expedi-
tion. Other critics have adopted
this idea.

a great extent the lengthened
shadows of its rabbi, and con-
comitantly Jewish destiny will
be decided in no small degree
by the caliber of their rabbis.
He mentions, further, that
among the areas in which a
modern rabbi functions involves
his being comprehensively,,
learned in Judaism, in its his-
toric and traditional aspects; as
well as having a high degree of
ability to communicate this
learning. He must possess the_
quality of personal Judaic influ-
ence. He must have the ability
to interpret Judaism in the coh-
text of American Jewish life
and represent this larger point
of view in every segment of
work in which he engages."

Dr. Sidlow had selected an ex-
cellent evaluation of the type of
rabbi who can best serve his
people, his community and man-
kind. We concur in the view-
point as it applies to Rabbi Ad-
ler and we join in the warm
greetings that will be extended
to Rabbi Adler at Special Shaa-
rey Zedek services tomorrow.
Rabbi Adler has made him-
self felt in our community, dur-
ing his 18 years of service here,
through his participation in the
most important Jewish and civic
movements; through his able de-
fense of the Jewish position in
this country; by means of his
defense of Israel and the Zion-
ist cause. He has ably inter-
preted Judaism not only in his
ministry as a rabbi but also in
his associations with non-Jews.
He is a brilliant interpreter of
Conservative Judaism. He is a
distinguished representative of
Jewry in its dealings with our
neighbors—and has gained fame
beyond the boundaries of our
state.
His 50th birthday is an occa-
sion to acclaim his numerous
contributions to our people and
our country, and it is a joy to
endorse the warm sentiments of
Hearty Tribute to Rabbi Morris Adler
Dr. Sidlow and to join with the
In his hearty tribute to Rabbi Morris Adler, in last week's many thousands of Rabbi
issue of The Jewish News, Dr. Leonard Sidlow, the retiring Adler's friends in wishing him
president of Congregation Shaarey Zedek, quoted from an essay well on this important occasion.
by Dr. Bernard J. Bamberger, when he stated: "A prominent
2 Detroit Jewish News
rabbi and author has very succinctly depicted the changing role
Friday. March 30, 1956

—

open here on April 24, attended
by 490 delegates. Israel will
have 208 delegates; the United
States, 122; North Africa, 20;
England and South Africa, 12
each; and France, 11. Germany
will be represented for the first
time since the war, with five
delegates.
Party representation will in-
clude Ichud Olami (Mapai), 150
seats; Confederation (General
Zionists, Progressives, Hadas-
sah) 150; Mizrachi, 70; Achdut
Avodah, 60; Mapam, 60; and
Revisionists, 50. The seats have
been divided according to the
results of the last Congress and
Knesset elections. In addition,
there have been inter-p arty
agreements as to seating in all
countries except Belgium, Mex-
ico and Southern France, where
elections will decide the issue.
Jews in Germany Name Five
Delegates to Congress
COLOGNE (JTA) — A five-
man delegation to the forthcom-
ing World Zionist Congress in
Jerusalem was chosen here at
a joint session of the West Ber-
lin and West German State elec-
toral commissions of the Zionist
Organization in Germany. The
delegates, who were candidates
on an agreed-upon "unity list"
and are not pledged to any po-
litical party, are Carl Busch and
Heinz Galinski of Berlin, Karl

Schwartz of Straubing, Bavaria.
This is the first time since
well before the war that repre-
sentatives from Germany will
attend a Zionist Congress.
Herut Wins First Place in
Elections in Brussels
BRUSSELS (JTA) — T h e
Herut Party emerged as the
leading Zionist party in Sun-
day's election for the 24th World
Zionist Congress. This is a com-
plete reversal of form, since the
rightists trailed all other par-
ties in the last Zionist elections
here six years ago.
The Herut count was 911; the
Mapai, 781; General Zionists,
733; Mizrachi, 514; Mapam, 504,
and Achdut Avodah, 416. Bel-
gium's three votes at the World
Zionist Congress will be dis-
tributed on the basis of one
each to the Herut, Mapai and
General Zionists.
Haitian, Dominican Zionists
Designate Marks to Congress
P 0 R T-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
(JTA)—Dr. Sidney Marks of
New York, secretary of the
Zionist Organization of Amer-
ica, has been designated by the
Zionist Organization of Haiti
and the • Zionist Union of the
Dominican Republic as a dele-
gate to the 24th World Zionist
Congress. Dr. Marks is the first
delegate ever to represent these
two countries at a Zionist Con-
gress.

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1956, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

United Nations Moods

N

Western-minded diplomats. at the United Nations are begin-
ning to see the light in the Arab-Israel crisis . . . They are no
longer inclined to trust statements by Col. Nasser, Egypt's ruler,
that he means no war against Israel . Some of them are
wondering why Israel does not offer a military air base to the
United States . .-. This, they think, would protect Israel from
Arab air attack better than United Nations resolutions and
appeals . . . They feel that Egypt would not dare to attack Israel
knowing that there were American bombers on an air base in
Israel leased to the United States . . . What they don't know is
that the State Department has brushed aside any suggestion of
an understanding with Israel for the establishment there of an
American air base . . . Opinion among delegates of neutral
countries to the United Nations is that Britain and the United
States have been favoring Egypt against Israel in fact, if not
by intention ... And these delegates ask:' Why not recognize that
Israel is the real friend of Britain and the United States and act
accordingly? . . Some of them feel that if.the United States and
Britain would stop .wooing- Egypt, the Arabs would not be as
impertinent as they are . . . They suggest concrete action which
the United States and Britain could take to make Egypt less
belligerent . They believe, for instance, that Britain and the
United States can agree on a joint oil policy which would not
play into Egypt's trouble-making hands and would also put the
king of Saudi Arabia in his proper place . . They suggest that
British evacuation from the Suez Canal base be suspended as a
warning to Egypt . . . They are certain that American and
British economic sanctions could cause a great deal of dislocation
of Egyptian trade even if Egypt could sell its cotton to the Soviet
Union . . . They foresee other possibilities for checking the-
growing Arab aggressiveness against Israel and against the Wes-
tern Powers ... The question is only whether the State Depart-
ment in Washington and Sir Anthony Eden in England are
inclined to make use of these possibilities.

Domestic Developments

More than half of the young men now studying for the
Reform rabbinate are married . . . Several of them have one
child, others have two or more children . . . There are 50 married
seminarians on the Hebrew Union College campus in Cincinnati...
Early marriage does not affect their study for the rabbinate .. .
on the contrary, HUC finds that the married student tends to
excel academically . . . Family responsibility gives him ambition,
drive and focus ... Economically his road is rugged and he must
shuttle between studies and jobs in order to earn a living ... A
loan system has been established by the Hebrew Union College
to give married students financial assistance . . . Some of the
married students live with their wives in • one-room efficiency
flats . . . Many of the married students travel miles to lead
services, teach in Hebrew schools, and do odd jobs to make ends
meet . .. There is a Student Wives Club -at HUC and there are
16 campus babies, with three others due soon . . . The average
age of a married rabbinic student is about 27, and his crowded
daily routine is a pretty tough one .. In this connection, Hebrew
Union College goes back nostalgically to about 50 years ago,
when life was much tougher for HUC students . . At that time
hunger was everybody's roommate .. What saved the student
body for the rabbinate was a famous American institution—the
free lunch ... The course of study allowed no electives . . . Each
entering class took the same subjects the first year and climbed
the same ladder for seven additional years • . . Rabbinical school
classes met afternoons only; mornings were reserved for high
schOol or university .. . To gain HUC admission, students were
required to show a' knowledge of Jewish history up to the time
of Zerubbabel and an ability to translate the Book of Genesis ...
Students entered at various ages and levels—some in knee pants,
recent graduates of elementary school.

K

