Only 145 Jewish Families Remain
in All of Japan, WJC Reports
NEW YORK (JTA) — There
are only three cities in Japan
where small groups of Jewish
residents can be found, accord-
ing to a report published by
World Jewish Congress head-
quarters . here. In Tokyo there
are about 100 Jewish families,
30 Jewish families reside in
Kobe, and in Yokohama there
are 15 families. Before the
outbreak of the last war there
were 2,000 Jews in Japan.
"The small communities in
these three cities," the report
said, "are quite different from
all other Jewish communities
in the Far East and Southeast
Asia in that practically the
entire membership consists of
business people of various na-
tional origins who are there
on a temporary basis only. In
spite of the smallness of these
communities they manifest a
keen sense of belonging to the
Jewish people. The very pres-
ence of an Israeli Embassy in
Tokyo stimulates, in the Jews
of Japan, the will to identify
themselves with things Jewish."
In the 1930s the only im-
portant Jewish community was
in Kobe, Which not only took
care of its own religious and
cultural requirements but also
contributed much toward the
needs of numerous refugees
from Nazi oppression, particu-
larly those from Poland and
Lithuania, who arrived there
via Vladivostok in the early
months of 1940, thanks to the
liberal attitude of the Japanese
authorities, who granted them
transit visas and prolonged
their permits for temporary
stay on Japanese soil. The
wanderings of these escapees
from the Nazi inferno took
them from Kobe to Shanghai,
India, Australia, the United
States, Canada, Israel and
Latin America. After the end
of World War II and the de-
struction of the Kobe Center
building, most of the Jews
moved to Tokyo.
"The World Jewish Con-
gress organization department,"
says the WJC report, "sought
persistently to arouse and
maintain the interest of the
Jews of Japan in the affairs
of the Jewish people at large,
and as a result of its efforts
the Jewish Community of
Japan, with headquarters in
Tokyo, affiliated with the WJC
on March 4, 1953. Two months
later a new Jewish Community
Center was opened in Tokyo in
the Mikasa,.
the presence of
brother of the Emperor of
Japan, and of princess Mikasa.
Through this event, interest in
the religion, culture, and his-
tory of the Jews received
added impetus. Organized as
a religious corporation under
the Corporation Law of Japan,
the Center, whose facilities in-
clude a synagogue, library, and
social rooms, has a member-
ship of about 100 families with
a number of non-Jews as
honorary and associate mem-
bers," the report concluded.
Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Mary Clawson : 'I Would Stay and Fight for Jerusalem ...
So many interesting experiences are packed into Mary
Clawson's "Letters from Jerusalem" ("A non-Jewish woman's
love affair with Israel"); the fascinating book published by
Abelard-Schuman (404 4th, N. Y. 16), that her volume of 224
pages of letters to her family and friends has earned for it a
reviewer's return to it for additional comment.
Writing about the sad_ Kibya incident, Mrs. Clawson, under
date of Oct. 25, 1953, had this to say:
. . . there are huge masses of Arab soldiers in the Old
City of Jerusalem and - around Mount Scopus. You can see
them from many parts of our side of Jerusalem . . . My chief
worry is that if there were fighting, we would not be allowed
to stay but would get sent home. I would stay and fight for
Jerusalem, even with the boys (the Clawson's two very young
sons), if we could.
"I really envy the people who went through the siege of
Jerusalem. If you had lived here through the siege and fought,
if you were a man or young woman, or done what you could
if you were not, you would feel forever that Jerusalem was
yours in a special sense, and I would like to have that feeling.
It would be in a larger sense like bearing- a child in great
pain; you feel that it is yours in a special way . . . "
If a non-Jewish woman, who lived in Jerusalem only -a
couple of years, feels this way, imagine the feelings of Jews
who fought for their lives, for the security of their homes and
for the retention of Israel's Holy City as a part of the State
of Israel !
This non-Jewish woman, who fell in love with Israel, learned
to love Jerusalem and Israel and to respect the Israelis.
One needs to be in Israel only a very short time to acquire
this love. But one must first have a sense of justice and fair
play. Mary Clawson came with these qualities to the land she
learned to love.
Veracity verus Flattery
The venerable Prof. Joseph Klausner, of Jerusalem, offers
admonishing advice to the habitual flatterers. We suffer in Jew-
ish life from too much flattery. More often than not, a speaker,
no matter how mediocre, will be flattered into believing that he
had saved his community with his nonsense. Communal leaders
will he flattered into complacency because people will hesitate
to set them straight when they blunder.
In this essay on the poet David Shimoni, in the latter's
"Idylls," published by the Youth and Hechalutz Department of
the World Zionist Organization in Hebrew with an English trans-
lation by I. M. Lask, Prof. Klausner, commending Shimoni's
poem "Job's Wife," thus analyzes and dissects flattery:
- "If there is any absolute and diametrical contrast to veracity,
it is flattery. Flattery in all its forms. Flattery is the most
reprehensible form of falsehood. Falsehood may be impudent
and then, despite its ugliness, it contains a certain force. Flat-
tery is falsehood that conceals itself and wears a mask, a lie
dressed up to win an advantage. It is falsehood that involves
crawling and self-abasement, in order not to anger the strong.
There is nothing that the Talmud detests so much as flattery
and the sycophant, and those susceptible to flattery . . . It is the
Talmud which says of the prophets: "The prophets know that
their God is true, so they do not flatter Him.' Shimoni has given
full expression to this in his long poem 'Job's Wife,' one of the
most important and thought-provoking poems in our literature."
The flattery spoken of here makes criticism and self-crit-
kim impossible. It is the lie that negates constructive human
efforts. It is too evident in Jewish life today: it must be relegated
again to the reprehensible position in which it is described by
Prof. Klausner.
Gen. Dori Here
for Technion's
Annual Dinner
Progress in atomic and solar
energy research in Israel will
be reported by Gen. Yaacov
Dori at the Detroit Technion
Chapter's 12th annual dinner at
Temple Israel, Saturday eve-
ning.
Gen. Dori, president of Tech-
nion, Israel Institute of Tech-
nology, serves as scientific ad-
visor to Prime Minister Ben-
Gurion.
Dr. Joseph Epel, Detroit
chapter president, in a state-
ment inviting friends of Tech-
nion in the area to attend the
dinner, said that special re-
search being conducted in Tech-
nion laboratories is under the
sponsorship of the Air Research
and Development Command of
the United States Air Force.
One development of this spon-
sorship is a centripetal pump,
designed by the Technion's fa-
mous Dr. Marcus Reiner, which
may cause scientists of the
world to revise their thinking
about the designs of guided
missiles. Another project at
Technion, under Dr. Abraham
Kogan, yielded a formula which
simplified air resistance calcu-
lations in determining guided
missile trajectories. Dr. Epel
stated that. Israeli science and
technology may yet be a major
factor in the security of free
nations,
Limited fuel resources in Is-
rael compells major attention
to be foctised upon atomic and
solar energy research. One
practical product coming from
Technion's - laboratories , is a
solar hot water heater which is
being produced commercially.
The heat of the sun is used in
processing the valuable chemi-
cals extracted from the. Dead
Sea. The barren Negev contains
large deposits of low-grade
uranium ore which is found in
the phosphate minerals of the
region. Technion labs are busy
with research projects devoted
to economical extraction of the
low-grade uranium.
Anticipating Israel's large
scale use of atomic energy for
power to run its industries and
agriculture, Technion now con-
ducts comprehensive courses in
the nuclear sciences. The recent
purchase of an electronic re-
actor simulator for classroom
use will train Israeli scientists
and engineers in the operation
and characteristics of genuine
atomic reactors.
General Lori's visit to the
United States coincides with in-
tensified efforts of the Ameri-
can Technion Society to com-
plete the $10,000,000 building
fund campaign to construct the
new Technion campus rising on
the slopes of Mt. Carmel near
Haifa.
Murray Altman will preside
at the dinner Saturday night.
Leon B. Kay, a Technion na-
tional vice-president, will speak
briefly. Greetings will be given
in behalf of Michigan Universi-
ties by Dr. Clarence B. Hil-
berry, president of Wayne State
University, Dr. John R. Mulroy,
vice-president of the University
of Detroit, and spokesmen for
other schools.
East Germany Orders
End to Trade with Israel
the East
BERLIN (JTA)
Germany Ministry for Foreign
Trade was reported to have
issued instructions to all sub-
divisions to end any dealings
they might have with Israeli
firms. According to a reliable
source, the circular ordered:
I. All conferences with
Israeli businessmen concerning
trade with Israel be termi-
nated; 2. All state trade agen-
cies must make certain that no
merchandise go from East Ger-
many to Israel; 3. No finished
product shipped to Egypt may
be made of parts produced of
Israeli materials.
Jews in Bolivia Have Full Rights,
Vital Life, Chief Rabbi Reports
Al-
NEW YORK (JTA)
though there are only 4,000
Jews in Bolivia, they do not
fear assimilation because there
is a strong Jewish cultural life
in the country and almost no
intermarriage, Rabbi G. Fried-
lander, chief rabbi of Bolivia,
who is now on a visit to the
United States, declared here.
Rabbi Friedlander said that
before World War II there
were only 30 Jewish families
in Bolivia. Most of the 4,000
Jews now residing there were
admitted as refugees from
Nazi Europe. ,About two-thirds
of them are Jews from Poland
and one-third came from Ger-
many.
About 3,000 of the Jews live
in La Paz, the rabbi reported.
They are chiefly engaged in
trade and in industry. The
economic situation leaves no
room for complaints. Nor can
the Jews of Bolivia complain
about the rights which they
enjoy. There is no anti-
Semitism in Bolivia, he re-
ported.
Jewish cultural life in Bo-
livia, Rabbi Friedlander said,
was developing normally. There
is a Jewish theater in La Paz,
a Jewish center "Circulo Is-
MNIMMI•04•1•1141.11
raelita," eight synagogues and
a Jewish all-day school which
is attended by 400 children.
The school enjoys government
support and its graduates are
accepted into the La Paz
College.
Rabbi Friedlander, who also
directs the Jewish school, re-
vealed that about 30 per cent
of the pupils of the school are
children from non-Jewish fami-
lies. Some of them come from
the homes of high government
officials and leading Bolivian
personalities. These children
study Hebrew, Jewish history
and other Jewish subjects and
master them as well, as do the
Jewish children. The school
has a staff of 36 teachers, of
whom six are Jews. The Jewish
teachers are assigned to teach-
ing Jewish subjects.
"All in all we can say that
80 per cent of all the Jewish
children in Bolivia receive a
systematic Jewish education,"
Rabbi Friedlander stated. "The
remainder are also not es-
tranged from Jewish education,
but receive it through private
teachers. We are certain that
our children will grow up to
be good Bolivians and good
Jews at the same time."
■ 04 ■ 011 ■ frell•MOINII•011•1 ■ 0411=1.04•11 ■ 0411•141 •1•■n410.0411 MIHNM. ■041■40■ INItt
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
... and Me'
(Copyright, 1958)
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Communal Affairs:
Plans for a basic study of Jewish national cultural programs
in this country are being mapped by the Council of Jewish
Federations and Welfare Funds. . . . The purpose is to high-
light the problems faced by the Jewish agencies in the field of
Jewish culture and education. . . . • Such a picture is sorely
needed. . . It has been emphasized more than once that the
shortage of teachers in Jewish schools constitutes one of the
major problems of Jewish education today, as well as in the
foreseeable future. . . . A major cause of the shortage is the
economic insecurity of the profession. . . . Largely because of
the cooperation of the central fund raising agencies in several
communities, about 350 week-day Hebrew teachers are already
covered by pension programs. . • . However, the teachers who
are included in pension plans are only a small fraction of the
total number of week-day teachers—estimated at 5,500 in Jew-
ish schools throughout the country.
Israeli Plans:
The Israel government is planning to accelerate its efforts
to attract American investments in Israel. . . . By investments,
the Israel government means capital or loans in foreign cur-
rency granted for not less than 10 years. . . . Investors will be
exempt from government urban and rural property taxes for
a period of ten years and from rates to local authorities for a
period of five years. . . . They will not have to pay the usual
25 percent income tax and the 28 percent company profit tax,
but will be subject to a maximum of only 25 percent tax on
profits derived from the enterprise in which they invested their
capital. . . . Any non-resident investor is entitled under ex-
isting law in Israel to withdraw annually an amount not ex-
ceeding ten percent of his foreign currency investment, provided
that it does not exceed the profits earned during that year. . . .
Special provisions also exist for the repatriation of capital, if
the investor so desires. . . . An approved enterprise is also
allowed huge depreciation rates for a period of five years,
thereby reducing considerably the amount of income subject
to taxation. . . . The ordinary rate for depreciation ranges from
7 to 20 percent, while an approved enterprise is allowed depre-
ciation at double or more than the normal rate. . • There are
today more than 800 approved enterprises representing a cap-
ital investment of more than 130 million Israeli pounds and 125
million dollars. . .. More than 90 percent of them belong to
private investors.
S
The Philadelphia Story:
The story told by me of the first and only Kosher restau-
rant which I found functioning in Rome during my recent visit
there has had interesting reverberations. . . Sylvan Kling, as-
sistant editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, reveals that
his paper received from a reader an interesting footnote to the
saga of the Jewish refugee who established the Kosher restaurant
in Rome and advertised it right on the wall of the American
Embassy, for the 'benefit of American Jewish tourists. . . . It
seems that without the intervention of an Italian judge in Phil-
adelphia, who is not of Jewish faith, this institution would
never have come into being. . . . The reader, Lewis Bokser, tells
the following "behind the story" to my Rome story. . . . The
proprietor of the Kosher restaurant, a Mr. Tenenbaum, had ap-
pealed to Rabbi Morris Shoulson of Philadelphia, who visited
Tenenbaum while in Rome several years ago. . .. Tenenbaum
explained that the city government restricted the number of
restaurants according to the size of the population of Rome and,
therefore, refused a permit for a kosher restaurant. . . . Rabbi
Shoulson had his plea forwarded to Judge Eugene Alessandroni,
who contacted the Italian ambassador and visited the Mayor
of Rome. .. . At a dinner given by the Sons of Italy shortly
after Judge Alessandroni returned from his trip to Europe, he
announced that his mission was a success.