Friday, September 20, 1957 — THE DETROIT JEWISH NEW S-2

Purely Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

A Great Novel Is Coming: Ayn Rand's 'Atlas Shrugged'

"Atlas Shrugged," the 1168-page novel by Ayn Rand, due
off the preSs of Random House early in October, may prove to
be the most powerful story published in a number of years.
We predict for it a very long run as a best seller. It is certain
to be talked about, to be widely discussed, to be the subject for
lectures and sermons.
Miss Rand, who already has earned an important place in
literary history with her "The Fountainhead," touches in "Atlas
Shrugged" upon the most ticklish problems involving industry,
labor and government.
It is the story of a man who "would stop the motor of the
world." In the numerous episodes—there are more exciting
occurrences in this novel than one could hope to find in a dozen
other books—the reader is faced with the intrigues that go along
with such a possibility. Industrial tycoons plot to control markets,
unions seek controls their way, government officials are involved
in machinations that threaten the security of the entire people.
The key to the story may be found in a discussion between
two of the chief ,characters. The creator of a new /metal is asked
by one of the characters involved in the struggle between vested
interests and 'privately enterprising geniuses who refuse to- take
orders from the clique in power: "If you saw. Atlas, the giant
who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood,
blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms
trembling but still trying to h4:51d the world aloft with the last
of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world.
bore down upon his shoulders—what,would you tell him to do?"
And the suggestion that followed was that he be told "to shrug."

Chief Justice Warren, Harry Truman
Attend N. Y. Talm,udic Law. Course

Chief Justice Earl Warren and
former President and Mrs. Har-
ry Truman became classmates
last week-end at a special course
in Talmudic law conducted at
the J)ewish Theological Semi-
nary in New York.
The Supreme Court head at-
tended the whole of a three-day
-course, beginning Friday, on
Jewish, law and its relevance
to contemporary legal prob-
lems. The former U.S. President
and his wife joined the Justice
during luncheon lecture of the
series' second- session.
During their attendance at
the Seminary courses, both the
Chief Justice and Mr. Truman
donned black skull caps in def-
erence to the ConserVative and
Orthodox tradition of keeping
the head covered at meal time
and in places of worship.
The Chief Justice had been
invited to attend the series by
Dr. Louis Finkelstein, Semi-
nary chancellor, with whom
he has long been acquainted.
Chief Justice Warren had ex-
pressed the desire to learn
something of Jewish legal
tradition with its guiding em-
phasis on monal law.
•
The Trumans were surprise
guests at the Saturday, luncheon
lecture. Mr. Truman had been
invited by the Seminary through
former N. Y. State Supreme
Court Justice Samuel Rosen-
man', his friend and legal coun-
sel.
An English translation of- the
Talmud was presented to Jus-

The heroine of the story,. a strong-willed member of a rail-
road-owning family, whO defies the inanities of. her brother and
the railroad's governing board; who is determined to build the
best railroad, is a most interesting character. But so is everyone
in the entire group she becomes associated with—especially
John Galt. The catch phrase is "who is John Galt" —a myth-
ical person frequently referred to in the era discussed who turns
out to be real and ekisting. He is the creator of a motor that
would revolutionize the world, that would stop all else. He is
one of a group'that left, often destroyed, big businesses, to join
in the formation of a distinct society that vows:
"I swear by my life and my love of it that I will never live
'Or the sake of , another man, nor ask another man to, live for
mane."
Actually; there is a 'moral to the stoly. The group that
dedicated itself, under this oath was out to defeat "the looters"—
in industry and in government. John Galt stole the thunder
with a three-hour radio address in which he offered advice to
the people against "the looters," appealing for his group's grin-:
ciples as enunciated in its oath. In his speech he said the world
the people desire . can be won, "but to win it requires your total
dedication and a total break with the world of your past, with
the doctrine that man is a sacrificial animal. who exists for the
An urgent call to Jewish com-
pleasure of others. Fight for the value of your person ... Fight munities throughout the coun-
for the essence of that which is man: for his sovereign rational try to make available $30,-
000,000 in cash for the United
So, "the looters"- seek his destruction, but the group that Jewish Appeal by Dec. 13, to
seeks the betterment of man conquers because the industrialists ,help stem the mounting refugee
did not recognize the folly of following a program that led to crisis overseas, went out from
Philip W. Lown, of BOston, and
their own destruction..
Samuel Rothberg, of Peoria, Ill.,
"Atlas Shrugged" • is a most challenging novel. It is thought- UJA national cash chairmen.
provoking, even when it may be considered unrealistic in its
The chairmen stressed the
extreme approaches to science and politics. The underlying ideal
nevertheless makes it a very great novel that will cause the need for the first $15,000,000
name of Ayn Rand to be engraved indelibly in the history of in this UJA cash collection drive
to be raised by Oct. 18, when
literature in our time.
the UJA's 100-man Overseas
*
*
Study Mission leaves for a sur-
Declining Leadership and ZOA's Returning Virility
vey of UJA-supported opera-
The enthusiasm that was traditionally in evidence at Zionist tions in Europe and Israel. The
conventions was rather limited at the opening of the 60th anni- Mission will turn over the init-
versary convention of the Zionist Organization of America, in ial cash to' representatives of
New York.
the Jewish Agency, the philan-
It was not surprising. It- is more difficult to drum up ex- thropic organization which ad-
citement over reality than over a dream—and Zionism now is ministers immigrant aid pro-
grams in Israel financed in
a reality.
greatest part by American
Besides, there is a partial split in Zionist ranks, with the Jewry • through the UJA.
formation of the American Jewish League for Israel. The most
Target date for raising the
distinguished former ZOA leaders now are in the AJLI. Louis entire $30,000,000 is Dec. 13,
Lipsky and other • former noted ZOA leaders were absent from when the UJA opens its annual
the 60th anniversary convention. The able ZOA president, Dr. national conference in N e w
Emanuel Neumann, and one of the distinguished former presi- York.
dents, Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, were the only ones among the
best known Zionist leaders at the first two days' convention Health Service Grant Spurs
sessions. "That did not worry the present ZOA leaders, although Brandeis Biochemistry Plans;
they were indignant over the split which kept men like the
dean of the movement, Louis Lipsky, away from the convention. $2,000,000 Program Launched
WALTHAM, Mass. — Bran-
A 'distinguished Zionist summed up the differences between deis University received ap-
the ZOA and the AJLI very bluntly, thus: AJLI, he said, has proval for a U.S. Public Health
leadership without membership, while ZOA has an impressive Service grant of $363,373 for
membership with a limited leadership.
new building construction and
The sad fact is that there were too few young people. at the simultaneously announced a $2,-
convention. Also, some very good Zionists who previously con- 0 00,000^ plan for the develop-
tributed to the glamor of ZOA conventions were not at the ment of its graduate area in
convention sessions at the Waldorf Astoria in New York last biochemistry_ to commence im-
'week.
mediately.
'Dr. Abram L. Sachar, presi-
It is said that some of the ZOA leaders stilliare straddling
the fence. To them we could apply the report about a psychiatrist dent, announced that the fed-
who now is specializing in split personalities: he has purchased eral government grant will be
used, along with a recent
a sectional couch.
$500,000 gift from Samuel Fried-
But, puns aside, the ZOA convention had heartening and land, of Miami, to construct a
inspiring sessions. There were inspiring moments, at the session four-story research center, ad-
addressed by Dr. Silver and former President Truman, at the joining the university's Julius
JNF breakfast which launched a valuable movement for the Kalman Science Center in the
establishment of settlements to safeguard the Israel area border- Charles and J. Willard Hayden
ing on Jordan, the diplomats' session addressed by Israel's Am- .Science Quadrangle. This center
bassador Abba Eban, Lord Russell and French Ambassador Herve will become the home of the
Alphand.
university's research in biology,
Zionism remains a very vital movement—perhaps the most biochemistry, microbiology,
vital in Jewish life, and ZOA is far from crushed by a split over chemistry and physics including
differences which should have been ironed out and adjusted programs now in operation and
internally.. And—the new movement surely will give the ZOA those contemplated for the
future.
new ,licerktiVe to. regain its . former

Urgent UJA Plea
for $30,000,000
Cash Collection

.

.

tice -Warren at the conclusion
of the seminar. In aceepting the
work Mr. Warren commented
that -"there is as much intoler-
ance, as •much bigotry and as
much hatred rampant in the
world 'today as when . these
great scholars were developing
and envolving this Talmud." He
promised to read the 30 volumes
of Jewish law and commentary
and to "study it with great
humility."
At the luncheon lecture at-
tended by all three national
leaders, Rabbi Shalom Spie-
gel, Seminary professor of
medieval Hebrew, lectured on
Judaic tradition of justice as
conceived by the prophet
Amos. He likened the impor-
tance of Amos' conception of
justice to that of Chief Jus-
tice Marshall in the historic
case of Marbury v. Madison,
which established the princi-
pal of judicial review and the
high court's duty to decide the
constitutionality of any act of
Congress or the states. Amos
established, Dr. Siegel said,
that justice was innate in all
men, transcending all laws
and considerations.
. The relationship of legal pre-

,

cedents to justice, he declared,
should be the same as ritual
to religion -- important, but
merely guides to higher attain-
ment. Judicial decisions must
not be bound inflexibly by legal
precedent or 'logic but must be
consonant with common sense
and tolerance, he underlined.
The Seminar y Talmudic
discussions in which Chief
Justice Warren participated
similar in form to Supreme
Court case analysis. The les-
sons on the Talmud included
interpretation of the Mishnah,
the code of Jewish ecclesiasti-
cal law.
Mr. Warren heard Dr. Fin-
keistein state that Jewish legal
tradition has a single approach
to -both law enforced by the
courts • and self-enforced, or
moral, law. Prevailing legal
systems, the Seminary chancel-
lor expounded, regard enforce-
able moral law outside the do-
main of legislature and court
and tend to substitute law for
moral education.
The summary session of the
three-day course included a con-
; vocation at which former Fed-
leral Judge Simon H. Rifkind
spoke.

*04111.1.41 ■ Oi.13.11•1141i.lit.0111.1.

Boris Smolar's

'Between You
... and Me'

(Copyright, 1957,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.),

1

Behind The Scene:

A serious issue is developing between the United States and
Israel behind the scenes at the United Nations General Assembly
which opened with its twelfth annual session this. week. The
United States insists that Israel permit the United Nations troops
now in Sinai to extend its patrols to the Israeli side of the de-
marcation line. Israel will not consent to this request, which is
quietly advanced by UN Secretary General Dag HammarskjOld.
At present, the UN troops are stationed on the Egyptian side of
the demarcation line but, under her arrangement with Hammars-
kjold, Egypt can order them out any time she wishes. An ex-
change of notes between the United States and Israel—which
has not been made public—made it clear that Israel is in no
mood to agree to UN troops on its territory. The entire issue
will probably come into the open when the General Assembly
considers methods of financing the UN Emergency Force. The
General Assembly Will have to decide how to meet an additional
obligation of $11,000,000. over and above the $16,500,000 previ-
ously authorized for maintaining the UN troops on the Egyptian-
Israel border till , the end of this year.

a

Diplomatic Moods :

The balance of arms between the Arab states and Israel, on
which the United States has been keeping an eye during the
last years, is now all but disappearing. This opinion is g,rowing
among members of the United Nations who see the arsenals of
the Arab countries bulging with arms sent by Russia and the
United States, while Israel gets no arms from any side. A feeling
of anxiety prevails among many UN members who see Russia
and the United States competing in stocking the arsenals of the
Arab states at a time when their rulers state clearly that these
arms will be - used against Israel. It is estimated that Moscow
has so far provided $350,000,000 worth-of arms to Syria, Egypt
and Yemen. The value of the arms now being sent by the
United States to Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia also runs into
many tens of millions of doliars. Thus Arab leaders who a few
years ago had to scratch hard to buy a few tanks, now find arms
of all kinds being pressed upon them by the two great powers
of the world. The concentration of arms in the. Arab lands is
considered more of a potential threat to Israel than to any of
the Arab states.

.

a

a

a

a

Communal Affairs;

Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, who brilliantly &reeled the work
at the Joint Distribution Committee in Europe during the most
critical years in Jewish history, and successfully conducted the
United Jewish Appeal later for a number of years, has done it
again. As executive vice president of the Israel Bond Organiza-
tion, he has achieved remarkable results for the Israeli bond
campaign this year. This can be seen from reports to the three-
day conference of the Israel Bond Organization which takes
place in New York this week-end. The objective of the confer-
ence is to launch the ,most intensive phase of the campaign to
raise $75,000,000 this, Year through the sale of Israel bonds. Dr.
Schwartz is not only "making good" on the bond drive, but—
what is very important for Israel—that he has.also developed a
spirit of complete harmony between the bond campaign, the
UJA drive and the Jewish Federations and Welfare FundS
throughout the country. There was a time when Dr. Schwartz
was considered for the post of president of the Hebrew .Univer-
sity in Jerusalem. Only Israel's need for more . and more funds
from American Jewry stood between him and this post. Needless
to say, the Hebrew University would gladly welcome him to this
position which, I am inclined to believe, he will hold eventually
when the pressure from Israel for maximum Jewish financial
aid from this country subsides.

