Still Straddlin- 0.- the Litre THE JEWISH NEWS - a • Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Member American Association of English-Jewish' Newspapers. Michigan Press Association. National EditoAal 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 class matter Aug. 6. 1942, at Post Office, Detroit, Mich,: under Act of March 3, 1879 PHILIP SLOMOVITZ SIDNEY SHMARAK FRANK •SIMONS Editor and Publisher Advertising Manager City Editor Sabbath Scriptural -Selections This Sabbath, the seventeenth day of 'wig', 5716, the following Scriptural selections be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion, Entor, Lev. 21:1-14:23.- ProphetiCal portion, Ezek. 44:15-31. will Licht Benshen, Friday, April 27, 7:08 p.m. VOL. XXIX — No. 8 Page Four April 27, 1956 War Flames Fanned by Dictators Those with understanding of existing world conditions, -and people with vision, are taking a _special interest in the hap- penings on Israel's borders which may affect not only those who reside in that area now but - the generations to come.. In order to cement good relations among neighbors, and to assure peace among nations, it is necessary that the standards of peoples who live near each other should be raised to high levels. One of the major causes for the troubles in the Middle East is the gap that separates Israel from the Arabs, the dif- ference in their standards,_ the contrast between Israel's literacy and her neigh- bors' illiteracy: - - While only 6.9 per cent of the people in Israel, above the age of five are illiter- ate—including the Moslems residing there and the new-comers from backward coun- tries— UNESCO •(the United Nations Ed- ucational, Scientific and Cultural Organ- ization) and the UN Technical Assistance Committee report the existence of shock- ing conditions among the Arabs. Egypt has reported to these UN agencies that 74.4 per cent of the Egyptians of the ages of 10 and older are illiterate. Iraq reports that 89.1 per cent of its people, above the age of 5, are illiterate. It is among such people that anti-Israel feelings are flour- ishing. Here are some additional facts, re- ported by UN agencies: Infant deaths per 1,000 live births are: Israel, 39.6; Iraq, 56.0; Jordan, 100.1; Egypt, 128.6. There are 64 hospital beds in Israel for every 10,000 in its population, and there is a similar number in the most advanced Arab country, Lebanon; but there are only seven per 10,000 in Syria, 10 in 'Egypt, 12 in Iraq and 14 in Jordan. There is one doctor for every 390 Of Israel's population, as compared with one for every 3,602 in Egypt, one for every 6,500 in Iraq, one for every 6,100 in Jordan, one for, every 5,000 in Syria and one for every 1,300 in Lebanon—the. latter again being the most advanced among Israel's neighbors. Working together, striving for peace, Israel and her neighbors could benefit each other. Israel is in a position to inspire the Arabs to truly high standards of liv- ing, to advancement in cultural enter- prises, to health improvements. But the Arabs are too busy planning hatred; and Israel must spend her energies for defense. Besides, the world's powers are so concerned with oil and with power politics that basic needs in the Middle East are forgotten: the basic needs being economic and cultural cooperation, leading to peace, and a humane outlook on life. _ Will the Arabs recognize their real needs? If they do, they will have to elimi- nate dictatorships, primarily those in Egypt, Jordan,.. Iraq and Syria; and the dictators refuse to give up power and are ' concerned only with not losing their heads-. That's the main reason for perpetuation of a state of war and the difficulty in -taming an immediate peace. * * * The cease-fire orders issued late last - week by Israel and Egypt, as a result of the negotiations conducted by UN Secre- tary General Dag Hammarskjold, are temporarily heartening. The fact that the order includes a provision for the cessa- tion of terrorist activities, in Israel • by Egyptian-trained commandos has special significance. • But a truce is in itself only a pallia- tive. It is a temporary measure which may have little value—unless it will lead to a permanent peace agreement. - The conflict is far from ended. It Continues as long as Arabs propagate hate, as long as a war spirit exists, as long as Egypt enforces a concentration. camp in Gaza of Arab refugees who are prevented from entering any. other territory, includ- ing Egypt itself, except Israel, where they are incited to wreak_ havoc and to com- mit murders. The flames of war continue to be fanned by dictators. Will the United Na- tions be strong enough to encourage peace negotiations in order to attain permanent amity? Without the permanency of peace all truce agreements must be viewed as temporary palliatives. Jewish Braille Braille Institute's 25th Anniversary A most interesting anniversary was observed this week. April 24 marked the 25th year of the Jewish Braille Institute of America. • The New York Times advance- report on the celebration told so interesting a story that we 'now let it speak for itself: In Astoria, Queens, a 12-year-old boy is studying for his bar mitzvah. Thousands of miles away, in Los Angeles, a 14-year-old girl is preparing for her bas mitzvah. Here in the city and in other sections of the country, aged Jews are listening to re- corded stories. In Boston a rabbi is reading a Hebrew Bible, while in Paris a 28-year-old woman is saying, her prayers in a synagogue. Ordinarily such cultural and religious ac- tivities would merit little comment. However, these people hive something in common=they are blind. The boy, the girl, the aged, the clergyman and the Frenchwoman are just a few of the thousands all over the world who are benefit- ing from the free services of the Jewish Braille Institute of America, 101 West Fifty-fifth Street. The organization, which is dependent on voluntary contributions for its work, will mark its twenty-fifth anniversary April 24 at a dinner at the Commodore Hotel. Through the years, the institute has be- come the source of Jewish culture and learn; ing for the blind. It issues The Jewish Braille RevieW, a bi-monthly volume in Engl i.s h Braille `offering' literary, cultural and religious current events, short stories and poetry. It maintains a free library, a Children's Supplement to the Review, prepares special prayer books for confirmations and services in Hebrew and English Braille, and Yiddish "Talking Books" for the aged. In 1950 the institute completed after five years of painstaking effort a Braille edition of the Hebrew Scriptures. The project also entailed the development of the International Hebrew Braille Code to supersede and replace several regional Hebrew Braille alphabets that had long been considered inadequate. To carry on its work, the institute receives financial. aid from the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods and the National Women's League. Both groups also provide volunteer workers. Dr. Jacob Freid is executive director of the institute. It is an important story, and it is exciting because it is so human. --- - Many things have been done by the Braille Institute. Bibles and secular books, newspapers . and magazine articles have been transcribed into - Braille to enable the Jewish blind to gain knowledge and- to keep informed on world affairs. The Braille Institute has performed a remark- -able- task: Its leaders -have shown vision in their efforts. We.. congratulate them and we wish them much. strength in their, future efforts 'in behalf of the handicapped blind. Self-Portrait of a Great Rabbi 'Stephen Wise's Personal Letters' Mrs. Wise Judge Polier Dr. S. S. Wise James Waterman Wise and Judge Justine Wise Polier, chil- dren of the late Dr. Stephen S. Wise, have combined their talents to edit an unusual book: "The Personal Letters of Stephen Wise." This volume, published by Beacon Press (25 Beacon St., Boston 8), constitutes, indeed, as the children of the great leader state in their foreword, "a full and revealing self - portrait" of the late and great rabbinical leader. The letters began in 1899. They were written over a 50 year period to his wife, Louise Waterman Wise, who was in her own right a most distinguished American Jewish leader. The letters appearing in this book include also messages sent to his children and to his dear friend, the eminent Christian minister, Dr. John Haynes Holmes, author of an introduction to this volume. Interestingly, Mrs. Wise preserved all of her husband's let- ters, thus accounting for their availability for this- fine book. The book has special merit because it presents the thinking of the great leader of the first half of 'our century, 'not only on personal problems, but on many major world issues, - We learn from the letters about Dr. Wise's friendship for the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dr. Theodor Herzl, Mr. Justice Louis D. Brandeis, Dr. Chaim Wiezmann and scores of others. There is warmth in every letter. Dr. Wise was known for his promptness in answering every letter he received. He in- . corporated in his replies the dynamism that' distinguished him and made him a personality to be reckoned with by Jews and Christians. In his introduction, Dr. Holmes speaks of Dr. Wise the great orator, the man who, on foot, led parades against Nazism, who spoke out for Israel, who defended all downtrodden. As far back as 1900 he propagated Zionism. Jewish national rebirth, the activities of the American Jewish Congress and the fight against' bigotry were his major concerns. His interests in them are graphically described in these personal letters. • Dr. Wise's association with the late President Wilson, with Nathan Straus and others are revealed in these posthumous memoirs. There are numerous interesting comments 'on Weiz- mann, Vladimir Jabotinsky and other controversial figures in Zionism and in Jewish life. He was especially outspoken in his - condemnation of anti- Zionist rabbis. These letters add to an understanding and an evaluation of the history of American and world Jewries in the past half century. "The Personal Letters of Stephen Wise," now the property of all who read them, adds light on many issues and leads to better understanding of the warmth of the man who was unmatched' in his ,day as an advocate of Jewry's causes and as an 'eloquent defender of the oppressed. - "