Too Few Teachers for Too Many
THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Association, National Editorial
Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road. Detroit 35. Mich..
VE. 3-9364 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 Hol Hamoed Sukkot Scriptural Selections
Pentateucha/ portions, Ex. 33:12-34:26, Num. 29:26-28. Prophetical portion, Ezek, 38:18-39:16.
Hol Hamoed readings from Numbers 29
Scriptural Selections for Concluding Days of Sukkot
Pentateuchal portions: Thursday, Shemini Atzeret, Deut. 14:22-16:17, Num. 29:35-30:1;
Friday, Simhat Torah, Deut. 33:1 34:12, Gen. 1:1-2:3, Num. 29:35-30:1.
Prophetical portions: Thursday, I Kings 8:56-66; Friday, Joshua 1:1-18.
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VOL. XXX—No. 3
Page Four
September 21, 1956
Sukkot: Our Festival of Thanksgiving
"On the fifteenth of the seventh month,
when .ye have gathered in the fruits of the
land, ye shall keep the feast of the Lard
seven days: . . And ye shall take you on
the first day the fruit of goodly trees,
branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick
trees and willows of the brook, and ye shall
rejoice before the Lord your God seven.
days , . . Ye shall dwell in booths seven
days . . that your generations may know
that I made the children of Israel to, dwell
in booths, when I brought them out of the
land of Egypt." (Leviticus XXIII, 19-44)
In this Biblical quotation is incor-
porated the injunction for the observance
of Sukkot. For seven days, tradition pre-
scribes dwelling in booths on a festival
that is primarily agricultural, a holiday on
which we express our thanks to the Al-
mighty for the bounties we enjoy.
In our own time, Sukkot also marks
fulfillment of Prophecy and the removal
of those sad elements in Jewish life which
marred the hOlidays of the Jewish people.
A high price was paid for - the attainment
of the liberties which distinguish the
Sukkot of 5717 from those that preceded
1948. Israel's freedom also marks the
liberties that accompany the Sukkot of
our time.
The Sukkot of the Old World, of the
ghetto that was destroyed in blood by the
Nazi-Fascist hordes and by the anti-Semi-
tic mobs who brought destruction to Eu-
ropean Jewry, was thus described in his
memoirs by the great Jewish leader, the
late Dr. Shmarya Levin:.
"Within the Sukkah I felt altogether won-
derful. The light of the Festival Candle drew
itself upward, toward the roof of the
branches, which 'was not a roof but a portion
of the sky let down over our heads. And
among the branches of fir, the stars peeped
out, crystal clear, as if they too had been
purified and washed for the festival. Thus
the candlelight streamed upward, and the
starlight came down, and at the meeting-
place of the two a warmth and tenderness
was born which is known only to him who
has dreamed the evenings away in the
Tabernacle.
"Here the Jew, symbol of man uprooted
from his mother earth, alienated from the
magic contact of nature, touched reality
again. Condemned by the miseries of his
history to a withered, colorless existence, he
suddenly felt the richness of the old life
which flows from the inexhaustible sail."
Our generation is more blessed. We
can celebrate the festival in freedom. Our
kinsmen in Israel once again are observing
it as a great week of thanksgiving.
Once again, Sukkot marks adjustment
to Jewish living, in contrast to the re-
adjustments that were imposed upon our
people in the past.
It is, indeed, thrilling to be able to
exchange Happy Sukkot greetings in joy
and in security, in a spirit of adherence to
faith and tradition. We pray that these
new conditions should become even more
effective through a lasting—through a
permanent—peace for Israel and the world.
Confusions Re! sting to Israel
_ In a highly enlightening article, in the
Saturday Evening Post, outlining his views
on "Why Israel Will Survive," the distin-
guished columnist, Joseph Alsop, paid
tribute to the genius of the people of
Israel and told of the devotion of the citi-
zens of the new State and their deter-
mination to survive against great odds.
Regrettably, however, Mr. Alsop re-
vealed the pessimism that is heard so often
in the ranks of the uninformed, or from
those who would harm Israel's status, that
the Israelis are unconcerned over the fate
of their Arab citizens, that they are indif-
ferent to the position of the Arab refugees
and are doing nothing about it.
* *
*
The fact is that Israel's leaders have
offered, on numerous occasions, to partici-
pate in relieving the Arab refugee prob-
lem. They have welcomed back many of
the refugees—the Arab population in Is-
rael has groWn from 70,000 when the
State was established to 170,000 today—
and have offered to compensate those who
had left properties behind them when
they fled from the country unwisely.
Although less than 1 per cent of the
Arab refugees have 'frozen funds in Israel,
the Jewish State already has released to
them $12,000,000. With proper coopera-
tion from the Arab states, a great deal
more could have been accomplished, in the
refugees' behalf.
* * *
A typical example of existing confusion
is the use of the term "Zionist" When those
who are critical of Israel set out to rebuke
the small State. For instance, the Chris-
tian Science Monitor; a newspaper so well
known for its editorial fairness, found it
necessary, dealing editorially with "new
unrest in Palestine," to ascribe a "pattern
of sharp retaliation by the Israelis for in-
juries inflicted by their Arab neighbors"
to "Zionists" who, the editorial says, call
such a pattern "their only effective de-
fense under the circumstances." The fact
is that such claims, when they are made,
are advanced either by Israelis or by Jews
in Israel. Arab propaganda has been aimed
at confusing Jews with Zionists, Israelis
with Zionists, and either naive or, unsus-
pecting Americans have fallen prey to
such an effort at finding a scapegoat.
* * *
In reality, the Arab propaganda scheme
is so to confuse people by use of the term
"Zionist," while aspiring indirectly to con-
demn all Jews. But those who should
know better ought to understand that
Israelis are fighting for their very lives;
that Jews everywhere hope that people
with a sense of fair play, everywhere, will
assist the Israelis in the fight for an hon-
orable existence, and Zionists are people
with an ideal whoa, prior to the establish-
ment of Israel, spearheaded political ef-
forts for Israel's independence and are
now, through their organization, assisting
in efforts to inspire a just interest in the
reality of Israel's place as a sovereign
State.
* * *
In the main, all Jews today are contin-
uing the Zionist program, and any attempt
to distort this fact by seeking to create the
impression that there are "different" kinds
of Jews are rendering a disservice to the
cause of truth.
Mr. Alsop and others who may have
been misled into believing that Jews are
rendering an injustice to the Arabs will
benefit from the statement that was made
last week by Fares Hamdan, one of the
seven Arab members of the Israel Knesset.
Hamdan, greeting Israel's President Itzhak
Ben-Zvi, on the latter's visit to several
Arab villages in the Nazareth area, said:
"If we still suffer a little from military
rule, it must be said that this situation
has resulted from the stubborn attitude of
the Arab states which refuse to sign a
treaty of peace with Israel."
In these few words, Israel's Arab • par-
liamentarian summed up the existing sit-
uation. Would that his kinsmen outside
Israel and people everywhere would rec-
ognize this incontrovertible fact: that all
peoples in the Middle East would benefit
from peace, but that only the effendi-con-
trolled Arab countries stand in the way of
such amity.
.
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Leo Lania's 'Foreign Minister
Leo Lania, author and lecturer who covered the era of the
Hitler mania on the ground floor, having had a 10-day sojourn
with Hitler under an assumed name; who escaped from a con-
centration camp, who has been in this country for 15 years and
has campaigned for the United Jewisli
Appeal and in support of causes for
the relief of escapees from Nazism—is
well known to Detroiters.
He has spoken here in UJA's be-
half. His books have been read and
reviewed in this community.
His newest work is certain to at-
tract wide interest. His new novel,.
under the title "The Foreign Minister,"
deals with the horrors of dictatorships.
This novel, published by Houghton
Mifflin Co. (2 Park St., Boston), is
not about any specific person. It may
be applied to Czechoslovakia and to
the Masaryks, or to any other land.
Its importance lies in the revelations
of the sadistic and tyrannical methods
Leo Lania
of the tyrants who have gained a foot-
hold in Europe.
Fascists and Communists alike share guilt. Both are exposed
in all their ugliness. "The Foreign Minister" is the story of a
man who fought for the democratic idea, who faced both enemies,
who suffered the fate of democrats in Europe: -murder.
Ably translated by James Stern, this well-told story is timely
even a decade after Hitlerism; for it is told in the midst of a
rising neo-Nazism and a remaining threat from communism.
It is a warning to the democracies not to abandon faith, to be
lovers of liberty, steadfast in their quest for freedom.
Regrettable Omission of Israel
From Shepherd Historical Atlas
The eighth (1956) edition of "Historical Atlas," prepared
and annotated by William R. Shepherd, late professor of history
at Columbia University, "contains all maps of the seventh revised
and enlarged edition and a special supplement of historical
maps for the period since 1929 prepared by C. S. Hammond
& ,Co."
Published by the Colonial Offset Co., Pikesville, Md., the
atlas' sole distributors are Barnes & Noble (105 5th; N.Y. 3).
The Shepherd Historical Atlas remains a classic and will
be in constant demand because of its completeness. A preface
to the new edition points out: "Since the plates, originally
made in Germany, were destroyed, this edition was printed
by offset lithography."
Preparation of the special supplementary section of historical
maps by this country's outstanding authorities on the subject,
the C. S. Hammond Co., gives the new edition its status.
However, the new volume still has its shortcomings, in that
it does not list Israel, the new State. It has the reference map
of Palestine, a Plan of Jerusalem map and Biblical maps. Also,
the supplement makes reference to the Jews as a people, in
the map on the Near East, in the area of Jerusalem. But still
there is no mention of the State of Israel —. now a reality for
more than eight years.
Shepherd's Historical Atlas is a most valuable book, but
the omission of Israel needs correcting. To make it fool-proof,
it is urgent that the publishers should correct the ommission as
soon as possible. .
'Wisdom of Living Religions'
Joseph Gaer has written several books on religions. His
latest work, "The Wisdom of the Living Religions," published by
Dodd, Mead & Co. (432 4th, N.Y.), includes the wise sayings,
maxims and parables of 10 religious faiths.
In his preface, Mr. Gaer states, with reference to the portion
on Judaism:
"The Jews, from biblical times to the present, have exhibited
a gift for expressing every variety of experience in a proverb;
and there are a larger number of Jewish proverbs less than a
century old than there are to be found in the Book of Proverbs."
The section on Judaism opens with explanatory statement
in which the compiler defines Torah, Mishnah, Talmud. Included
in this section are:
The Ten Commandments, the Sayings of the Old Testament,
Maxims from the Sayings of the Fathers, Talmudic Sayings,
Sayings from Ecclesiasticus. Each of these is preceded by ex-
planatory prefatory notes. , •
Other religions included in this book are: Buddhism, Chris-
tianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Jainism, Mohammedanism,
Shintoism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism.
The sources of the sayings of the Talniud are listed, and
appended to this fine volume are a selected bibliography, a
topical index and a general index.
This is undoubtedly one of Mr. Gaer's best compilations. It
is a book of considerable merit.