Friday, September 14, 19 56—THE DETROIT JEW ISH NE
Purely Commentary
Shapero Presents Keys to School of Nursing
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Unclean: Self-Hating — Self-Degrading — Jews
Every delegate to the recent Republican National Conven-
tion, at San Francisco, was handed a copy of the following
telegram, signed by Alfred M. Lilienthal, Counsel, National Com-
mittee for Security and Justice in the Middle East:
"Wanted: one courageous Republican who will place the
national interest above votes. The Middle East plank talks im-
partiality, but is pro-Israel and must be amended to provide an
equal guarantee to the Arabs against aggression. If no Republican
will fight on the convention floor for real impartiality there goes
,
the Middle East."
Ben Burdick, a member of the Michigan Republican dele-
gation, who provided us with a copy of the telegram, commented:
"You can see to what end these fellows went to attempt to ac-
complish their purpose. I had a conversation with Jack Javits
on the floor, and we were ready to combat any attempt that
might be made by them. However, Lilienthal was apparently
unable to get a single Republican delegate to carry out his desire."
They won't stop at anything, and will stoop to any depth,
but these self-hating and self-degrading Jews appear bent not
merely upon hurting Israel but even providing Israel's premier
with weapons for the destruction of the Jewish State.
They must be watched. They are flooding our communities
with lying propaganda. They are far more persistent in their
attempts to enroll supporters for the anti-Israel Council for
Judaism than Zionists are in seeking aid for Israel.
They used to be treated with the contemptuous silence they
deserve, but they have begun to invade Our homes and our
schools and they must be exposed in all their filth and their
self-hatred. "Unclean" is the warning to be placed at their collec-
tive and individual doors — since no Jew with self-respect can
possibly have any truck with them.
`7 Wonders'
—
An Injustice to Israel
Cinerama Corporation is a private concern and it can select
the topics it pleases for its miraculous screen. Lowell Thomas is
a private agent who does not and need not cater to any one's
whims.
But in their third Cinerama (the poorest, we believe), both
had seen fit to include Israel—and we find it necessary to express
our resentment over the treatment they gave the subject.
It is our conviction that Israel does belong in the realm of
the miraculous. But the Cinerama-Thomas approach was so shal-
low, bordering on indifference and disinterestedness, that it would
have been better unmentioned.
Very great accomplishments are in evidence to Israel's credit.
You wouldn't think so, however, from Lowell Thomas' report.
To top it off, after he had finished with Israel he took us on glam-
orous tours of Arabian countries. In view of the existing conflict,
he owed equal treatment to both. But the impression one gathers
is that Thomas was a mighty good propagandist for Aramco and
King Saud.
The best performance in the newest Cinerama — "Seven
Wonders" — is in Rome. The Vatican scenes are superb. Why
did Thomas limit himself to the drabness of the Via Dolorosa
when he dealt with the Holy Land? He ignored the New Jerusa-
lem, and the charm of Israel's new settlements, limiting himself
to a few kind words and to a scene or two of Israeli-developed
farmlands in areas that were once sand dunes.
"Seven Wonders" is over - rated — and an injustice to Israel.
It is little more than a Chatauqua platform for Lowell Thomas.
The Perennial Religious . Holyday Solicitations
The Holy Days always are accompanied by an avalanche of
appeals for funds from religious institutions in Israel, as well
as in this country.
Are they legitimate?, our readers ask.
We don't know. We assume that most of the institutions
asking for help deserve our support. Doubt arises only over the
methods resorted to by those making their appeals during this
season of the year.
If the institutions are deserving and are in need of funds,
there is no reason for their waiting for Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur to make their appeals.
If they are undeserving, there should be a proper agency
to screen them.
The late Joseph H. Ehrlich considered this problem so vital—
nearly 20 years ago—that he advocated the establishment of a
special committee to do such screening.
Perhaps it is not too late even now to consider the forma-
tion of a non-partisan group, with contacts in Israel, to ascertain
the legitimacy of institutions that circularize appeals in this
country, and at the same time plan for their support, if appeals
in their behalf are justified in this country, so that the present
frequent undignified solicitations should be stopped.
Trees Planted by Keshenever
Society Honor Mr. and Mrs. Bassin
PHILIP KAPLAN, executive member of the Keshenever
Bessarabier Aid Society (right), presents a certificate for a
grove of 1,000 trees planted in Israel through the Jewish Na-
tional Fund to LOUIS BASSIN, honorary president. The Kesh-
enever Society planted the grove in honor of Mr. and Mrs.
Bassin. The presentation was made at a special ceremony, called
to celebrate the completion of the grove which the society
started in 1952. The certificate was given to the society by
Percy Kaplan, JNF executive director.
At the dedication, Sunday, of the Shapero School of Practical Nursing, NATE S.
SHAPERO, (second from left) presents keys of the new school to SIDNEY J.
ALLEN, vice president of Sinai Hospital. Looking on are Dr. FAYE S. ABDELLAH,
director, Bureau of Nursing Education, U.S. Public Health Service; Judge THEO-
DORE LEVIN, president, Jewish Welfare Federation, and GEORGE STUTZ, pres-
ident of the Shapero School.
Joseph Alsop, in Post Article, Warns
Against Any Betrayal of Israel
NEW YORK, (JTA)—Joseph
A 1 s o p, nationally syndicated
columnist said this week that in
"more than two decades as a
political reporter at home and
abroad, I have never had any
other political experience as
deeply impressive as (a) visit
to Israel."
The columnist described his
personal reaction to Israel in an
article, "Why Israel Will Sur-
vive," in the Saturday Evening
Post.
The writer noted that Israel
was small and poor, but that it
had not been "dehumanized"
and that "in Israel the indivi-
dual is not lost in the mass."
Because of this sense of in-
dividual participation he wrote,
"I sr a e l i s feel more or less
strongly and consciously what
their counterparts in Britain and
America do not any longer feel.
They feel that they themselves,
with their own hands and minds
and the sweat of their own
brows, are helping to build
Israel. They feel, too, that they'
can well be heroes if they have
to; and many of them think
they will have to, for they are
almost too touchily ready to de-
fend this Israel they are build-
ing against all threats and
perils."
The columnist noted one point
of disagreement with most
Israelis—the question of the
Arab refugees. "I lost friends in
Israel, Alsop declared, "because
I could not accept the voluble
Agudah Protests
Police 'Brutality'
LONDON, (JTA) — Strong
protests against the "brutal" na-
ture of police .action in Jeru-
salem against religious demon-
strators insisting on Sabbath ob-
servance were voiced here by
the World Executive of Audath
Israel and the British section
of Agudah.
In letters to Israel Ambas-
sador Eliahu Elath, both groups
condemned the police action.
The World Executive demanded
that the Jerusalem police chief,
Levy Abrahami, be removed
from office, declaring that his
"anti-religious tendencies have
been frequently manifested in
the past."
The World Executive letter
also accused the Mapai Party
of having "in some cases" offi-
cially organized Sabbath dese-
crations" in the Orthodox sec-
tion of Jerusalem." Both let-
ters insisted that the religious
groups had staged peaceful dem-
onstrations which had been dis-
persed by the police in "brutal"
fashion,
Israeli arguments" that the
problem was entirely to be at-
tributed to "the follies and
ambitions of the Arab leaders."
Turning to the question of
Israel as a problem for Western
policy makers, the writer says,
"I have only three short sen-
tences to add the debate."
These are: "First, these
Israelis are not the sort of peo-
ple it pays to betray, if indeed
betrayal is ever a paying pro-
position.
"Second, if it was not excus-
able to compound the first in-
justice to the Jews with a sec-
ond injustice to the Arabs, then
it will not be excusable, either,
to try to compound this second
injustice with still a third in-
justice to all the hundreds of
thousands of men and women
. . who who have now made
their lives in Israel and pinned
their hopes on Israel.
"And third, let the errors of
the past always be remembered
in present policy-making, but
let no one try to repair those
errors by the simple and idiotic
act of turning them inside out."
Israel to Limit
Press Statements
JERUSALEM, ( JTA ) —
Henceforth, only the Premier
and the Foreign Minister will
be permitted to issue state-
ments to the press, it was
decided at a cabinet meeting
here.
This action was taken, It
was announced, following an
interview given to an Ameri-
can reporter by Mordecai
Bentov, Minister of Develop-
ment in the coalition cabinet.
Bentov's interview h a d
been severely criticized on
the grounds that it did not
represent the government's
opinion and could be mis-
interpreted as being official.
Israel UN Delegate Leaves
for Seminar in Moscow
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Mrs.
Zena Harman, a member of
Israel's United Nations dele-
gation, left for Moscow as an
Israeli delegate to participate
in a seminar on the status of
Soviet women. During her visit
she will travel through the
USSR as a guest of the Soviet
government.
On the Record
By NATHAN ZIPRIN
(Copyright, 1955, Seven Arts Feature Syndicate)
Jewish Education .
• The .past two decades, we are reminded over and over again,
have witnessed an awakened interest in religion and Jewish edu-
cation. Yet ironically enough our Jewish educational structure
at the moment is facing "grave and complex" strains that must
be repaired at once if we are to successfully cope with the problem
of upbringing our children Jewishly.
There was a time when those concerned with Jewish educa-
tion complained of indifference as the core of the educational
problem. Attendance in Jewish schools was dwindling and the
task was how to reach parents and communicate to them the idea
of the indispensability of the school to Jewish survival. Today,
with the growth of the Jewish school population and rising Jewish
school attendance, we are faced with what in this columnist's
opinion is a more serious crisis — lack of teachers. For, if the
declining trend in Jewish teacher personnel continues we may
well face an insoluble crisis. Recently, it was pointed out by
Philip W. Lown, president of the American Association for Jewish
Teachers, that the major problem facing the Jewish communities
of America in their efforts to develop Jewish education programs
is the shortage of qualified teachers. If that is the crux of the
problem now, what will happen, say, a decade hence if our teach-
ing resources are not adequately replenished? At the moment
the various teacher schools supply annually only 25% of the
needed educational personnel.
In recent years there has been wide awareness in circles of
Jewish leadership of the need of tackling the problem of Jewish
education through the teacher, a neglected figure of a man who
more often than not is looked upon condescendingly by the mem-
bers of his community and his school, let alone his pupils. But
while it is true that one of the reasons behind the declining
interest in the Jewish teaching profession has been the failure
of the communities to attach the same status and prestige to
Jewish educators that are accorded other professions, the basic
motivation behind the teacher shortage is economics and in-
security. Young people simply shun a profession where there is
no tenure and no security. The problem is beyond tackling by
any one single community. If the resources can be mustered to
bring to the Jewish teacher bread, dignity and security in old
age the teacher colleges will not have to go begging for students.